Category: Research

To gear up for our research with University of Tennessee we are going to be trying our hand at establishing some NWSGs at our Indian Hill farm. We will be focusing on a 3 acre pasture that is predominately fescue, which you may know provides some initial challenges for us. NWSGs can be easily outcompeted by the aggressive nature of fescue and thus needs to be under control prior to seeding our chosen NWSG species of big bluestem, little bluestem, and Indian grass. This leaves us with two options: the moldboard plow or an herbicide treatment. Neither are preferred but we view them as short-term tools to reach our long-term goals of a native prairie ecosystem on our farm.

Although Greenacres follows organic practices (and then some), we are not certified organic. That said, we know that many producers who may be interested in transitioning to NWSGs might be looking for organic options…so we decided to do it without herbicides. After the ground is prepared with a tillage pass we will be seeding a diverse mix of warm terms of NWSG establishment – providing valuable information to cattle producers, wildlife professionals, extension agents, academics, and others.

4/18/18
To gear up for our research with University of Tennessee we are going to be trying our hand at establishing some NWSGs at our Indian Hill farm. We will be focusing on a 3 acre pasture that is predominately fescue, which you may know provides some initial challenges for us. NWSGs can be easily outcompeted by the aggressive nature of fescue and thus needs to be under control prior to seeding our chosen NWSG species of big bluestem, little bluestem, and Indian grass. This leaves us with two options: the moldboard plow or an herbicide treatment. Neither are preferred but we view them as short-term tools to reach our long-term goals of a native prairie ecosystem on our farm.
Although Greenacres follows organic practices (and then some), we are not certified organic. That said, we know that many producers who may be interested in transitioning to NWSGs might be looking for organic options…so we decided to do it without herbicides. After the ground is prepared with a tillage pass we will be seeding a diverse mix of warm season annuals. These annuals will allow us to start the transition from cool season pasture to warm season.

Exciting news! Greenacres is officially entering into a research partnership with Dr. Pat Keyser and University of Tennessee’s Center for Native Grasslands Management.

The research collaboration will attempt to address the major challenges associated with native warm season grass (NWSG) establishment by limiting weed pressure while providing livestock forage during the seedling year. If the hypothesis is proven, this research will pave the path for increased acceptance of NWSG by cattle producers, in turn leading to an increase in acreage planted in NWSG. This increase could provide many benefits for livestock producers (through increased production value), wildlife (such as habitat for ground nesting bird species), ecosystems (increased biodiversity) and the health of our soils and watersheds (increased length of green season).

This research could play a large role in filling gaps in the literature in terms of NWSG establishment – providing valuable information to cattle producers, wildlife professionals, extension agents, academics, and others.