Old World Bluestem Seedings in Western Oklahoma
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Old World Bluestem Seedlings in Western Oklahoma Item Type text; Article Authors McCoy, Scott D.; Mosley, Jeffrey C.; Engle, David M. Citation McCoy, S. D., Mosley, J. C., & Engle, D. M. (1992). Old World bluestem seedlings in western Oklahoma. Rangelands, 14(1), 41-44. Publisher Society for Range Management Journal Rangelands Rights Copyright © Society for Range Management. Download date 27/09/2021 04:19:23 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Version Final published version Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/638839 RANGELANDS14(1), February 1992 41 When we do this, ourplans for the future, based on broad Literature Cited can indeed meet needs when consensus, everyone's Leritz, L. 1987. No-Fault Negotiating. Pacific Press. Portland, Ore. these plans are founded on a healthy resource. 293 p. Society for Range Management.1989. Assessment of rangeland condition and trend of the United States. Public Affairs Commit- tee, Soc. for Range Manage. Denver,Cob. 12 p. Old World Bluestem Seedings in Western Oklahoma Scott D. McCoy, Jeffrey C. Mosley, and David M. Engie OldWorld bluestems (Bothriochloaspp.)are an assem- (Dewald et al. 1985). WW-Spar is noted for producing blageof warm-season perennial bunchgrasses first intro- vigorous seedlings. Ganada bluestem (Bothriochloa is- duced into the United States in 1917 from Europe and chaemum var. ischaemum) originatedin Turkey and was Asia. These grasses are commonly seeded throughout introduced into the Great Plains in 1979 (Dewald et al. much ofthe southern Great Plains forstabilizing marginal 1985). Ganada is noted for its cold tolerance.WW-lron croplandand for increasingforage production on deteri- Master(Bothriochloa ischaemum var. ischaemum), aCu I- orated rangelands. Old World bluestem seedings can tivar tolerant of iron-deficient soils, was released by the produce four times the forage of well-managed native SPRRS in 1987 (Dewald et al. 1988). rangeland (Coyne and Bradford 1985). Consequently, Old World bluestems are an ideal choicefor seeded pas- tures used to complement native rangeland in an inte- grated forage-livestockproduction system (Sims and Dewald 1982). Forthe past 30 years, researchers at the USDA's South- ern Plains Range Research Station (SPRRS) at Wood- ward, Oklahoma have been studying these grasses and developingcultivars suited to the southern Great Plains To date, the five most commonlyseeded Old World blue- stem cultivars are Caucasian, Plains, Ganada, WW-Spar, and WW-lron Master. Two experimental cultivars not yet available commercially, WW-51 7and WW-857,also appear usefulfor thefuture (DahI etal. 1988,Masters and Britton 1988). Caucasian bluestem (Bothriochloa caucasica) was intro- duced into the United States from the SovietUnion (Dal- rymple et al. 1984) and was one of the first Old World bluestems to be introducedinto the United States. Plains bluestem (Bothriochloaischaemum var. ischaemum) was developedat the SPRRS and released in 1982 (Taliaferro Fig. 1. Non-irrigated Old World bluestemseedlings can yield5,000 and Harlan 1973). It is a blend of 30 morphologically to8,000 lbs/acre. Productionmay beimproved significantly where similar Old World bluestem accessions collected from irrigation is feasible. Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey,and the Soviet The development and release of these well-adapted Union (Dalrymple1978). One of these 30 original acces- cultivarsenabled many farmers and ranchers acrossthe sions was isolated and released by the SPRRS as WW- southern Great Plains to establish Old World bluestem Spar (Bothriochloaischaemum var. ischaemum) in 1982 seedings. USDA's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) also helped proliferate Old World bluestem seedings Authors are research assistant and assistant professor, Department of the But the uncertainfuture of RangeResources, Universityof Idaho,Moscow 83843; andprofessor. Depart- throughout region. given ment ofAgronomy, OklahomaState University, Stillwater 74078. The authors CRPseedings and the ever-changing crop and livestock acknowledgethe suggestions of w. McMurphyon the surveyquestionnaire. This article is Contribution 592from the Universityof Idaho Forest, Wildlife markets, many farmersand ranchersare trying to assess and Range ExperimentStation. thefuture, long-termrole of OldWorld bluestem seedings 42 RANGELANDS14(1), February1992 in their agricultural enterprises. Thorough assessments achieved from preparatory cropping (DahI et al. 1988). will require information on grass establishment, forage Preparatory crops were used by 74% of the survey production, and management strategies. We believethat respondents. Preparatory crops used were either wheat, a valuable source of this needed information is other sorghum, or wheat-sorghum combinations; wheat was ranchers, so we surveyed 50western Oklahomaranchers preferred. One problem reportedwith sorghum was that seekingtheir knowledge and experienceconcerning Old its tall growth habit created too much shade, which World bluestem seedings. We hopethatthe results of this impeded the growth of bluestem seedlings. The thick survey will providepractical insightsinto some sucessful sorghum stubble also made it difficult to drill through, and some not-so-successfulstrategies for managing Old and volunteersorghum sometimes persisted for several World bluestems. years. Survey of Ranchers Managing ForageProduction and Management Old World Bluestem SeedIngs Old World bluestems respond well tofertilizers. So well, Survey Response in fact, that fertilizing Plains bluestem with 60 lbs N per acre can almost double its annual In Februaryof 1990,a 26-question survey was sent to50 forage production ranchers who managed Old World bluestem seedings in (Sims and Dewald 1982). Old World bluestems' respon- 12 westernOklahoma counties. The list of ranchers was siveness to fertilizerwas well-appeciated by the ranchers in our as 90% of them fertilized their in compiledfrom county agricultural extension agents, Soil survey, seedings 1989.The of fertilizer used varied but most ConservationService personnel, and an Old World blue- type widely, stem seed dealer. Even without afollow-up questionnaire respondents applied a nitrogen fertilizer alone. The re- mainderof also in we received 31(62%) usable responses. The survey ques- respondents applied phosphorus and, tions asked ranchers about their Old World bluestem afew cases, potassium. One potentialproblem with fertil- izer is that stem size and the numberand management practices, including seeding, fertilization, application plant of inflorescencesincreases with fertil- irrigation and livestockgrazing. weight increasing izer rates (Sims and Dewald 1982). These changes in BackgroundInformatIon structure can reducea plant's to Most of the established their first plant acceptability graz- respondents (77%) ing animals (Dalrymple 1978).Prescribed burningor rota- Old World bluestem seedings during the 1980's, although tional be needed to one rancher's first to Before grazing may improvepalatability by seeding dated back 1952. reducingold dead and persistent stems. seedingthe Old World bluestems, all ofthe land included in thesurvey was dedicated previously to growingwheat, sorghum, or cotton. One ranchercommented that some of his OldWorld bluestem was planted on his less produc- tive land and on those areas that were more difficult to farm. Old World bluestems appearto be a viable alterna- tive crop for these sites. Most ofthe seedings (92% of the total 7,366acres) were eitherthe Plains or WW-Spar cultivars,with few seedings reported of Caucasian, Ganada, or WW-lron Master. These resultswere not unexpected, giventhat both Plains and WW-Spar were developed nearbyat the SPARS and these cuItivars are well-adaptedacross mostof thesurvey area. GrassEstablishment Old World blustems are generally considered to be establish on wide soils Fig. 2.Many cattle ranchersin westernOklahoma manage their Old relatively easyto a varietyof (Sims World bluestems with short duration and In 94%of grazing programs. High 1988), oursurvey respondents agreed. fact, stockdensities help preventthese grasses from becomingcoarse respondents successfully established Old World blue- andunpalatable. tems their first and two during attempt, only respondents Split applicationswith lesser amountsof fertilizer do (6%) needed to reseed entire fields. Two other respond- not to increase with ents that their fields appear forageyield compared single reported some portions of required applications (Berg 1990), and only 32% of the respond- The rate ofsuccessful establishment reseeding. high may ents who used fertilizer applied it in split applications. have been a result of the use of stubble mulch cover and 4 were the This March 10 June average dates for the first crops. technique involves planting a residue- and second applications,respectively, with about64 lbsN producing crop during the growing season immediately acre with each These rates cor- before the Old and then seed- applied per application. seeding World bluestems, respond well with general recommendations made by ing the perennial grass into the crop residue without Altom For those fields further seedbed weed con- (1978). receivingsingle applica- preparation. Erosion control, tions, application dates ranged from Januaryto August and reduced are benefits trol, evaporation potential and rates ranged from 30 to 220 lbs N per acre, averaging RANGELANDS 14(1), February1992 43 80 lbs N per acre. We believethat applicationsas early as et al. 1987, 1988) and emphasize the need for intensive