How to Plant Grazing Grass

Grazing grass is grass intentionally planted as a fresh food source for livestock. Every hoofed animal requires grazing grass for proper health including goats, cows and horses. The ideal grazing grass will be hearty, quick-growing and self-reproducing to ensure a long pasture season. Excellent grazing grasses include Sudan grass, clover, fescue, rye and some legumes. There are both cool and warm season grazing grasses available that can be planted in either fall or spring. To ensure that your pasture has the best nutrients for success, be sure to submit a soil test to the local extension office for the entire pasture land.

Soil test

Lime

Fertilizer

Grass seed

No-till grain drill

Irrigation system

Select the pasture area. The pasture for any particular grass should not exceed more than 5 percent of the total farm.

Amend the soil with lime a fertilizer. Lime is used to correct acidic soil and can be added at a rate of 75 lbs. per 1,000 square feet of grazing land every three to five years. Fertilizer improves the overall appearance and stimulates growth. Apply 1lb. of nitrogen fertilizer for every 1,000 square feet of grazing land.

Pour the grass seed into your no-till grain drill and disperse it over the pasture field. Move slowly over the field, working in straight parallel lines. For thicker grass, make a second pass over the pasture moving adjacent to the previous lines. The amount of grass seed will depend on the variety that you are planting; read the manufacturer's instructions to determine proper distribution rates.

Irrigate the field immediately after placing the seed. This ensures proper hydration for the seeds. Germination of freshly planted seed typically ranges from 10 to 15 days.

Do not use Sudan grass in a horse pasture as it has been shown to cause circling disease.