Can you broadcast orchard grass?

Seedings of orchardgrass can also be made with broadcast equipment such as fertilizer trucks, buggies or tractor-mounted distribution. Broadcast equipment will not throw orchardgrass seed as far as it will throw fertilizer or heavier seeds such as fescue.

Grazing/Hayland: The primary use of orchardgrass is for pasture and hay forage production (Ogle, et al., 2011a). It is highly palatable to all classes of livestock. It is one of the best forage grasses for use in the Northern states under intensive rotational grazing systems.

Broadcast – Seed may be broadcast by using whirlwind or end gate seeders. Cover seed with ¼ inch of soil or less. Roll, cultipack or use some other suitable method to firm seedbed before and after seeding.

The recommended seeding rate for orchardgrass is 8 to 12 pounds of seed per acre. If broadcast seeded or planted for critical area treatment, double the seeding rate. Adjustments in seeding rate should be made when seeding in mixtures. Seeding depth should be 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

For forage production or wild-land meadows, you only need 10 to 20 lb of of grass seed per acre. Some intensive forage production requires more, such as 30 to 40 lb of seed per acre, especially when growing hay for export markets or to sell for making feed pellets or cubes.

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) is a perennial, cool-season, tall-growing, grass which does not have rhizomes or stolons (bunch-type grass).

For most grasses, this is about 3-6 weeks after planting, but could be longer depending on growing conditions.

Orchardgrass is ideally sown in spring, or late summer. Note that sowing in mid to late August or later may not give young starts enough time go become stable for the oncoming winter. A well-prepared seedbed will help to promote higher quality orchardgrass.

Overseeding involves using a seed drill or cultipack seeder to sow seed during the growing season in an attempt to improve the composition of a pasture or hayfield. Simply broadcasting seed over the field usually gives poor results. Use a seeder to deposit the seed below the soil surface.

Alfalfa may be frost-seeded, broadcast, no-tilled or drilled into a prepared seedbed. … With a prepared seedbed, the soil should be very firm to ensure good soil to seed contact. When broadcasting, you should firm the field with a cultipacker or roller before and after planting.

Meadow fescue and orchardgrass This cool-season grass is a viable forage choice for alfalfa-grass mixtures. For lactating cow forage, the mixture of alfalfa with meadow fescue and tall fescue resulted in higher yields and higher-quality forage compared to alfalfa alone.

Orchard grass is native to temperate Eurasia and North Africa and is widely cultivated throughout the world. It has naturalized in many places and is considered an invasive species in some areas outside its native range.

“let’s see, a 50 lb bag is roughly 16”x 30”, or abou 3.33 square feet. An acre is 43,560 square feet so the bag of grass seed will cover approximately 0.0000657 acres.”