Warm-season grass selection to balance forage production and wildlife management needs

Warm-season grass selection to balance forage production and wildlife management needs

Summary

There is a need to have productive agricultural management compatible with wildlife management, particularly on properties that are protected by wildlife habitat focused conservation easements. There are are tens of thousands acres of farmland that require regular mowing and maintenance to remain open, and there is an increasing need for productive agricultural land in New England.

The establishment of warm season grasses that can be harvested later in the season can provide both a nutritionally useful crop and a safe grassland nesting area for the early summer. The normal cool season grass hay crop in New England needs to be harvested early in the summer, which can conflict with nesting season. This project seeded four mixes of warm season grasses using two tillage methods on a property with a wildlife easement owned by the town of Lee NH.

The seedbed preparation and seeding at the prescribed rates was successful. Plot layout and treatment details are illustrated in the enclosed plot plan. Tillage was accomplished with an 8’ front mounted howard rotovator and rear mounted brillion coultipacker. The first pass for shallow (2-3” depth) and deeper tillage (6-8”) was done on May 19th 2012. The second pass and seeding was done on May 25th 2012.

The result was that by September 2013  BigBluestem showed often, but not always, where it was sown, and a few other places as well. Indiangrass was most prevalent, often scattered from original strips.

Block 1
Phleum pratense Common Timothy
Verbascum thapsus Great Mullein
Solidago canadensis Canadian Goldenrod
Rubus allegheniensis Allegheny Blackberry
Daucus carota Queen Anne’s-Lace
Populus tremuloides Quaking Aspen
Rosa multiflora Rambler Rose

Block 2
Phleum pratense Common Timothy
Verbascum thapsus Great Mullein
Daucus carota Queen Anne’s-Lace
Solidago canadensis Canadian Goldenrod
Asclepias syriaca Common Milkweed

Block 3
Phleum pratense Common Timothy
Solidago canadensis Canadian Goldenrod
Oenothera biennis King’s-Cureall
Turritis glabra Tower-Mustard

• Indian Grass and Big Blue Stem seed heads 2013
• Switchgrass and Indian Grass established
• Aerial image of the warm season grass plots after almost one season
• plot tillage with unimog, howard rotovator and brillion seeder
• Switchgrass and Indian Grass seed heads 2013
• plots laid out in May 2012

Objectives/Performance Targets

The objective of the project is to be able to compare varieties and two tillage approaches and evaluate:

-How the varieties chose establish in a relatively typical abandoned hay field environment(soil health test attached) For this project there will be two planting methods and four seed mixes to evaluate varieties including Eastern Gamagrass, Indian Grass, Big Bluestem, and Switchgrass.
-if depth of tillage has an effect on the competitiveness of the warm season grass during the first year of establishment.
-If woodash treatments affect the result

The stages of the project as outlined in the proposal are:
Stage 1) Planning and procurement of appropriate varieties and amendments
Stage 2) Plot layout, planting and treatments
Stage 3) Observation and data collection
Stage 4) Analysis reporting and outreach

Stage one and two were completed as planned and as laid out in the attached plot plan.

Observation and regular outreach has continued with field days coordianted with NRCS, NH Audubon, the Nature Conservancy, UNH Cooperative Extension and the Town of Lee Conservation Commission.

Analysis of biomass and forage quality and reporting on that data is scheduled for after August 2014 to give time for establishment, and to replicate the expected harvest that would happen after the field nesting season.  Researchers from Cornell also contacted the farm to inquire about the results after seeing the title of the project in a SARE newsletter and are particularly interested in the forage analysis once that is possible. 

Accomplishments/Milestones

The seed calibration and seeder setup was a significant challenge which required careful mixing and use of both small and large seedboxes on a Brillion sure stand seeder. The detailed setup will be documented as part of the final report. All seed treatments were also seeded WITH 30LBS OATS, AND 20% VIRGINIA WILD RYE. The nurse crop did facilitate the proper metering of the larger and fluffier seeds without the need for a native grass seed box.

Although challenging to identify in early stages of growth, NRCS agronomists and cooperative extension botanists were able to identify the establishment of the warm season species in the plots.

As of September 2013 None of the stands were significant enough yet to warrant harvesting and testing.  But by 2014 it seems likely that there will be sizable enough stands to warrant harvest and testing. As of fall 2013 the Indian grass was the clear leader and spread across multiple plots, even where it was not planted.  Big Blue stem was also well establsihed, and as mentioned the switchgrass we identifiable but not dominating, and there was no evidence of the Eastern Gamagrass plantings.

As previously noted: Other plants were often dominating, although biomass or quantitative measurements of cover were not completed.  The other species identified were:

Block 1
Phleum pratense Common Timothy
Verbascum thapsus Great Mullein
Solidago canadensis Canadian Goldenrod
Rubus allegheniensis Allegheny Blackberry
Daucus carota Queen Anne’s-Lace
Populus tremuloides Quaking Aspen
Rosa multiflora Rambler Rose

Block 2
Phleum pratense Common Timothy
Verbascum thapsus Great Mullein
Daucus carota Queen Anne’s-Lace
Solidago canadensis Canadian Goldenrod
Asclepias syriaca Common Milkweed

Block 3
Phleum pratense Common Timothy
Solidago canadensis Canadian Goldenrod
Oenothera biennis King’s-Cureall
Turritis glabra Tower-Mustard

• Grass Transects
• Population transect sample paths on plots

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The outcomes and impacts for this trial will be largely unknown until the end of the 2014 growing season, however, the interest in the outcome and organizational involvement by conservation groups has already been well established. A workshop and field day was held in September 2012 amd 2013 including representatives from NRCS and NH Audubon to tour the plots and several other warm season trials(non-replicated) in the southern portion of NH. The Nature Conservancy partially replicating this SARE trial on 6  acres of a 30 acre field that they manage. NRCS and NH Fish and Game have agreed to help implement the new plots even before the full results from this trial are known, and previous Audubon plots which looked very poor in the first two years are now well established in the third year. The Nature Conservancy field is a much healthier soil, and will likely provide good contrast in conditions to the Town of Lee/Ford property. NH audubon is also working on similar aproaches and has test sites on poorer soils in a reclaimed gravel pit, but without any replication or controls. This project has already furthered the knowledge base in warm season grass establishment for both NH farmers and the conservation land holders.  The Strafford and Rockingham County Conservation Districts and the Cheshire County Conservation Districts have purchased no-till drills with warm season grass boxes to facilitate landowner experimentation and and warm season trials and this project was referenced by a landowner in New Market who worked with NRCS to begin the establishment of a native grass and polinator meadow. 

Collaborators: