Coastal vs Johnson Grass

[CharlieTR]

For a long time now I have been wanting to plant my 46 acres with good coastal burmuda grass. Mainly for selling hay. My friend tell me to stick with Johnson grass only. I hope to by baling equipment in the next couple of years, but I might end up with a small square baler because my current tractor is only 50 HP.

I want coastal because it will sell. He says johnson has almost twice the protein as coastal and that people just don't know how much better it is for horses and cows. Even if this is true, I want to grow hay and sell it, not educate everyone.
So I though I would ask you all if there is a market for small bales of johnson grass?

 

[sendero]

I can't wait to see the answers to this question. I was always under the impression that horses/cattle wouldn't even EAT johnson grass, so its nutritional content would be moot.

Seriously, I'm no rancher but in all my travels all over TX I've never seen Johnson grass considered anything more than a weed.

 

[checkers]

Do a google search on Johnson grass for some good info on it.
Check out Tif 85 as an alternative to Coastal. Apparently is a higher volume producer per acre and better digestability than Coastal. A good site is the Florida small farm site http://smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu

 

[BillyP]

Johnson grass is a good hay and cows love it. I don't know about horses though. The only thing about Johnson grass is you have to cut it often and it doesn't get thick like Bermuda. If you like to cut and bale often, Johnson will make you happy but you have to have a market for it.

I might add, most ranchers hate the stuff. It's way to time consuming.

 

[Bird]

Billy, cattle and horses will definitely eat Johnson Grass. I remember as a kid in Oklahoma that Dad usually bought alfalfa hay, but some years it either wasn't available or too expensive and he'd buy Johnson Grass hay. So I was really surprised when an uncle would almost panic if his cattle got into Johnson Grass, but it seemed if they were not accustomed to it and then got into it when it was pollinating, cows would bloat and it could kill them.

A few years ago when I was working cutting and baling hay with my neighbor, we did a lot of both Coastal and Johnson Grass. I think you do want a mower/conditioner for the Johnson Grass to crush the bigger stems. Of course if you don't crush them, the cattle will leave the bigger, tougher stems.

More waste, I guess you could say. But like I heard one rancher talking about the weeds in his hay. He said he didn't worry about the weeds "cause those cows have got all winter to sort them out from the good stuff." /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[hudr]

We spot spray patches of johnson grass around here w/ roundup. Yes, johnson grass has its place if it is cut often. There is even a place for bahia I am told, but not on my place. If you can grow coastal, stick w/ it.

 

[NoMo]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( We spot spray patches of johnson grass around here w/ roundup. )</font>

I do the same thing in my field. Can't imaging planting that stuff! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[stevenf]

Charlie, I raise/rescue Jackasses and they are the most risilient animal that there is so I'm not real concerned as to what they eat as long as its not momma's garden but do a google search on Johnson Grass Toxicity, it can be very dangerous to cattle and if it were the sole source of nutrition for equines it can be hazardous to them as well. I don't think I'd be planting Johnson Grass although I imagine it would flourish when most other hay grass would be dead from lack of water if you were planting it around South Central Texas where I'm at. There are plenty of folks feeding and haying Johnson grass but you've got to know when to plant and when to harvest if you misjudge it and harvest/sell it at the wrong time and kill a bunch of farmers cattle you won't be a popular guy at the coffee shop on Sunday.
Steve

 

[CharlieTR]

Thank you all for the replies. In a way I was expecting these types of replies. I had thought, and still think, most people have no interest in Johnson grass. 99% of the time people are trying to kill it, and righly so. I was really looking for people's perception of Johnson grass especially if you are buying hey.

If I were buying hay for cattle I would only buy JG. (if the facts are correct as told to me). The price is much cheaper and the protein is second only to alfalfa (I am told). But, as a hay grower, I think I must plant Coastal or tifton if I expect to sell it.

Yes, if you have pasture land for cattle, you must not graze on Johnson Grass. After the first frost, JG will almost instantly produce a poision called Prussic Acid, which will quickly kill a cow. If you suspect a cow died from prussic acid (PA) you can cut the dead cow near the ground and if the blood is chocalote colored red, it was prussic acid that killed it. This is the only danger from Johnson grass. And yes, you cannot bale after a frost, so one night delay can cost you an entire field of hey or a lot of cows. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Thanks again all!
And now I think I shall google JG to check those protein facts!
PS
Oh, almost forgot, you can buy Johnson grass seed for about $60 per 50lb bag, same price as bahaia. And the Soil Conservation program (EQUIP) will pay 50% the cost to plant it.