>I need to renovate my pastures. Does anyone have, or know where I
>can find information on recommended seed mixtures for the very deep
>south (Baton Rouge, La area).
In my experience you'll probably be better off 3 times out of 4 (not a
scientific number) working to improve the pasture you have, rather than
re-seeding.
With judicious management of your stocking rates you can usually move
the plant assemblage quite a long ways in the direction you wish to go.
The usual mistake that gets pastures in a condition where people wish
to "renovate" them is *under* grazing. That is, too low stocking rates
for too long a period of time (more than about 6 days at a stretch).
The cattle keep coming back and *selectively* over-grazing their
favourite species, with the result that the plant community shifts
towards things the cattle don't like. That increases the pressure on
the stuff they do like, and voila, there you are.
High stocking rates per acre for shorter periods of time --- say 4 days
if you want to be simple-minded about it at first --- will make at
least as much difference as reseeding. They'll more or less be forced
to eat the stuff they don't like, and the stuff they do like will have
a chance to regrow because after the 4 days there won't be anybody on
that piece for a month or more.
Spend your money on fences to subdivide your pasture, and on tubing to
get water to the parcels, and the results will be far more sustainably
satisfying than trying to re-seed, only to be back at Square One in ten
years.
Bart
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