bermuda establishment cost

[joeu235]

I finished converting 10 acres of abandoned crop land to hay pasture Monday. Half sprigged in Jiggs and the other Cowboy bermuda. Split was for an experiment for a bigger field. Figured I'd share the numbers.

6 hours of chisel plowing in December
6 hours of discing in February
$700 - 2000 pounds of 10-48-0 per soil report in February
$100 - 5 gallons of generic round up late March
$33 per acre for seed (5 acres)
$140 per acre for sprigs (planted with disc and cultipacker) (5 acres)

I won't know any yield results for several months. Hopefully it keeps raining.

 

[Tx Jim]

1/2 gallon to the acre of Roundup sounds like a lot to me. What is Cowboy bermuda? Sprigging Jiggs is what most people around me have done.

 

[smstonypoint]

For comparison purposes, A&M publishes coastal bermuda establishment budgets: 2015 Coastal Bermuda Budgets | Extension Agricultural Economics.

Steve

 

[joeu235]

2 qrts per acre is the Makazie recommendation for killing Johnsongrass. But even that just knocks it back a few months. I'll spray Pastora in about 6 weeks when the Bermuda can take it to finish off the Johnsongrass.

Cowboy bermuda is a blend of giant, mohawk, and common Bermuda seed.

 

[Lawnman TX]

You can kill Johnson grass dead at 1 quart per acre, with roundup, what comes back is the seeds.

 

[RPW]

Interesting setup. I've done 16 acres with Texas Tough. Basically a Bermuda hybrid that is disease resistant. Also did a Winter rye over the winter. Used 11-37-0 per soil report. Will bale last week of May or first week of June for the Winter Rye. Another application of 11-37-0 and Grazon Next HL for weed control then we'll see what the rest of the year does.

Good luck on your hay.

 

[joeu235]

Jiggs is starting to come up. At first I was worried about no rain and now my boots sink a foot in the field. Hopefully it doesn't become too much of a swamp.

 

[Bob Ha]

We sprigged 75 acres of Coastal and 25 acres of Midland 99 a few years back. Big mistake, we should have put in all Midland 99. The Midland 99 is more tolerant to heat/cold and disease that the coastal. The year we sprigged was a very dry year so most of the Coastal didn't survive and most of the Midland 99 did. Next time I sprig it will be Midland 99!

 

[RPW]

Well here it is the second week of June and just started to bale. Overcoming some problems not anticipated but.... Broke belt on mower Friday but was able to get new one on Saturday. Broke belt on baler Sunday had it repaired in about 30-45 min. now all belts are slipping. To hot and to late in the day to figure out problem so will work on it tonight after work. Hay is thick but after last rains was laid down pretty bad. At best it's cow hay now. Will check with neighbor on whether to attempt to sell or write it off.