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Bermudagrass -
Ranchero Frio VARIETY COMMENTS
Below is a review of opinions and comments
about Cheyenne and Ranchero Frio Blend of varieties and their
positive and negative aspects.
RANCHERO FRIO - Will it persist?
WHY GIANT
IN THE MIXTURE?
Giant is a good
variety
for this blend because
it has good leaf to stem ratio, good first year yield, fast
germination and good first year cover. All these reasons will really
help get the first year production up, weed levels down and
producers making hay. We do have some reports from farmers across
the Bermuda belt saying that Giant will not stay in the field after
the first year. We think it is due to cold hardiness. We do not have
data to compare on this, but indications are that in some cases it
is possible that giant can
freeze out over winter.
There is some test data
from Universities that will go
against
that opinion and some that would make you agree with it. My opinion
is that Giant is much more sensitive to cold condition or disease
depending on how it goes into the winter. You must let it remain
tall or with at least 4 to 6 inches of growth on it. If you mow it
close or graze it down going into the winter you will loose it. That
may sound strange in states in the south but this could be caused by
some disease problems also. The fact is we are not really sure on
this and the universities are not testing seeded Bermuda grasses
much and when they do it is generally only for yield.
Value of Giant in the mix for Cold areas?
There is some value in that Giant tends to jump out and germ
fast in the first planted season producing an established plant and
"foliage" quicker than Cheyenne and Mohawk the first year.
So the value of Giant the first year may be greater EVEN if it
phases out the second year.
The second year you can
depend on the strong growth and high yield of Cheyenne and Mohawk.
University test prove yields will increase over time and may reach a
peak three to four years into the stand.
WHY MOHAWK IN THE
BLEND?
The Mohawk addition
is defiantly a good thing.
University data is showing Mohawk to be a good yielder. As a
component in this blend it will help to keep the overall yield of
the forage up and help keep competitive weed out.
The Cheyenne and Mohawk are both Cold tolerant,
disease resistant and have very good yield potential. They are going
to yield as good as or better than most sprigged varieties. I have
enclosed some
state test that shows you some
yield numbers. As with any test data, I must say use caution when
using these tests. These tests are conducted in specific areas of
the country and have been subject to the weather condition in those
areas. This is only a guide when used outside the areas on the
tests. You could try to do some guess work based on averages from
one state to another. Fact is weather; growing season, competition,
fertility and many other factors may play a role on how your yield
will turn out.
WHY CHEYENNE BERMUDA?
There
is no question in my mind that Cheyenne
is the best "seeded" Bermudagrass on the market today and the
addition of it to any Bermudagrass mixture means you will have a
good product. Now that we are getting yield information on
Mohawk we can say that it is almost good
as Cheyenne, but definitely much better than common. It will tend to
yield better than other
seeded Bermudagrass such as Wrangler and Guymon and several sprigged
varieties.
CLICK TO
BUY
RANCHERO
BERMUDA
AT OUR STORE
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WHY USE GIANT & MOHAWK IN A
PASTURE BLEND?
Some agronomists
say that even if Giant is not long term... it comes on fast the
first year giving quicker usage ... while the slower establishing
Cheyenne and Mohawk varieties start being productive and reach their
best the 2nd year. --- Also there is some consideration that using
a turf type variety in a pasture mix with long stem types such as
giant tend to provide some leafy content at low height areas of the
canopy.
This is correct, but you do know that Cheyenne and most of the other named
Forage Bermudas came from the Turf Programs. As time goes on we will
probably see more of this. We did not know how Mohawk would work at
first, but we put it into trials. When we see that it out yields
Wrangler, Guymon, and several sprigged varieties and even some of the
seed blends sold on the market we got excited and started using it.
Managed like forage, we should get several benefits from Mohawk.
-
The
fast germination of Mohawk may help with weed and unwanted grass
competition.
-
Cold tolerance
-
Disease
resistance
-
High
yields
-
More
leaves per stem area
-
Lower
growing plant may help creep under the Giant and Cheyenne to fill
in faster (this also may help in a situation when you have Giant
winter kill)
Also,
as you mentioned on the Giant it produces great the first year. It
does a great job and has good yield in the establishment year.
That's why we want to keep it as a component of the
Ranchero Frio blend.
WHY USE TURF
PROGRAM VARIETIES?
Cheyenne was
originally promoted and sold as a turf product.
We had a similar "perception" problem with
Cheyenne
when it first came out as a forage variety. We had to talk about how
it was a former turf variety, but take a look at the yield. Once
people saw the yield potential and knew the easy planting value and
the cost savings they naturally went with it. Most of the money in
seeded Bermuda research has been for turf varieties because more of
these seeds are sold. Seeded Bermuda research for forage
varieties is only recently started to increase as all past focus has
been on "vegetative" varieties.
The same can now be said for Mohawk.
If I
was going to plant Bermuda and I could not buy Cheyenne because seed
was not available then I would use Mohawk. Mohawk as a component to
our Ranchero Frio Blend is a home run for any producer looking for
high yields and high quality.
Variety comments above were provided primarily by
John Carpenter, Forage manager for Pennington Seed
Additional editing by Mike Parsons - Seedland.com
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