Cross posted on aggieland forum:


What is the best type of Bermuda grass for Brazos county pasture with horses? when to plant? Best place to buy?

Mainly for horse grazing. Producers Cooperative seemed to have 4-5 dif types and recommended Cheyenne Bermuda….figured I'd get opinions here too

With warm season pastures, we've always had better results sprigging jiggs or coastal bermuda rather than planting directly from seed.
To get good results with either you really need to till the ground but i suppose you could get by with a no till drill for direct seeding.
I've not heard of cheyenne bermuda but there are always lots of new hybrid bermudas being advertised in the cattlemans magazine

I have a mix of coastal and common. The coastal did much better in the drought last summer.

Don't know about the Cheyenne variant, but other "improved Bermuda" via seeds seldom have the longevity of common Bermuda, and as mentioned tops or sprigs are needed for Coastal, Jiggs, or Tifton 85.
Horses are brutal, as to how well they can nip grasses down to dirt level, but like cattle, grazing a little bit of green stuff, seems preferred over hay.

Common Bermuda yield can be great...if fertilizer (nitrogen) is used, about every 2-3 months.

In my observation, seeded bermuda won't hold up to the grazing pressure from horses, especially with poor fertility and rainfall. It will survive as a sparse mat of infinite thickness above the ground and will reestablish vertical growth once better conditions present themselves, but will not perform the way an improved bermuda pasture grass will.

Tifton 85/coastal/jiggs - in that order in regard to preference for horse grazing/digestibility. Jiggs is great for cows and produces a ton of forage, but has much higher lignin amounts than coastal, especially when allowed to mature and get stemmy. That said, if you're just going to overgraze the hell out of it anyway, jiggs will produce the most forage in the worst conditions and you won't be able to kill it.

Coastal has decent forage production (was the gold standard for many decades until tifton/jiggs came along) and can have very high quality when young and fertilized. Planted by sprigs (dug up rhizomes) in late winter/early spring. Tifton 85 has the potential for highest yields AND highest palatability, but does poorly in heavy soils. Jiggs and Tifton will grow from sprigs or tops (I've planted tops of both), jiggs almost always with tops. Fall is a great time for planting tops due to availability and weather.

If you have heavier silt or clay loam soils, I'd stick with coastal (or jiggs if you think you will keep it grazed down or have very heavy soil). Deep sand, I would suggest Tifton 85 hands down for horses.

All need plenty of N, and plenty of P won't hurt, either.

"Ask the Agronomist (TM)" says……….What did horses eat before bermudagrass?


This should help, but remember THERE IS NO BERMUDAGRASS VARIETY THAT SURVIVES AND THRIVES OPTIMALLY WITHOUT CARE AND FERTILIZER!

TAMU Extension bermudagrass comparison

The answer to your question was lower quality grasses on much larger acreage than is readily available in present times.

Plus, those who had horses that weren't stolen on a regular basis by Comanches kept them close and fed them, a lot. Many accounts of being horse-poor back in the day due to the cost of upkeep, kinda like being vehicle poor today.

on the Aggieland board the OP said 3 acres, not sure how many horses.

You'll be lucky to get anything to grow unless you have the ability to control how long the horse grazes.

BQ_90 said:

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on the Aggieland board the OP said 3 acres, not sure how many horses.

You'll be lucky to get anything to grow unless you have the ability to control how long the horse grazes.

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He'd better be able to pen the horses for a few months until the grass gets established. Nothing's worse than a horse when it comes to yanking seedlings out of the ground.

Sam scenario but with cows? Whats yalls thoughts? I got 18 acres i have been wanting to do this to since it is full of "smutgrass"

Aggie Hunter said:

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Sam scenario but with cows? Whats yalls thoughts? I got 18 acres i have been wanting to do this to since it is full of "smutgrass"

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Cross fenced or not?

We have two horses on 7 acres total....their pasture is about 4.75 acres of graze.
We overseed with bermuda Purdy heavy a couple times a year....now and late summer.
Then we fertilize heavy from April to September every other month or so.

What about b Dahl
?

Crossfenced. Considered doing 1/2 this year and 1/2 next

Aggie Hunter said:

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Crossfenced. Considered doing 1/2 this year and 1/2 next

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A good approach, but remember - under ideal conditions you are looking at at least 90 days to even hope to get any grazing at all, and most of that will be based on weeds and annual grasses.

Yes thats why i bought extra hay this year and planned on putting out a limiter. I know it will be upfront cost but hoped it would help in long run. Suggestions?

Thanks to everyone for the replies and useful info!


Which Bermuda seed do you use? Also, how long do you keep horses off once u seed?

Aggie Hunter said:

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Yes thats why i bought extra hay this year and planned on putting out a limiter. I know it will be upfront cost but hoped it would help in long run. Suggestions?

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Check with your local USDA NRCS office. There may be some financial help. For all practical purposes, you are too late this year, but they can sure help you plan for next. Seedbed (sprigbed) prep is essential, along with good fertility pre-plant.

aggies4life said:

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Thanks to everyone for the replies and useful info!


Which Bermuda seed do you use? Also, how long do you keep horses off once u seed?

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90 days minimum unless they're just out there for an hour picking out crabgrass and johnsongrass. Horses can decimate a young grass planting.

Too late to plat tifton sprigs in NE Texas? I was about to do this…

Tierra Verde once nighttime lows are consistently above 60 degrees. Keep animals off until established. Worked very well for us in south Brazos county.

5C said:

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Too late to plat tifton sprigs in NE Texas? I was about to do this…

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Not too late to plant, but getting a good seedbed/sprigbed, soil testing, and fertilizing might be a bit pinched for time.

5C said:

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Too late to plat tifton sprigs in NE Texas? I was about to do this…

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Not too late. Plant in front of a coming rain and fertilize. Neighbors have been planting this week.