It is hard to believe but it’s time to order seed for frost seeding in February.  Producers should inventory fields and determine legumes and grass needed.

Seed that are suited well to frost seeding:

red clover, white clover and annual lespedeza (on thin less productive ground).  Don’t seed annual lespedeza on productive soils it doesn’t compete well with other species.

Lesser used species that also frost seed well are:

arrowleaf clover, crimson clover, hairy vetch (these are reseeding annuals which are typically seeded in the fall but can work in the spring for producers willing to manage grazing heights.  Hairy vetch is an underutilized species, adapted for to all soil types wet or droughty. Great for grazing but slow to get going needs minimum of 90 days growth.  Reseeds very well it is already present in most fields but doesn’t amount to much because livestock graze it out before it produces any quantity. Brassicas can also be seeded in February they will last one year if we have mild summer.  Grasses that establish easily: Prairie bromegrass, annual ryegrass (5 lb or less in a mix).  Annual ryegrass has shown excellent results in controlling spiny amaranth emergence.

Feed hay on infertile or weedy land.  Unrolling hay is a good practice for improving land. Hay needs to be cleaned up by stock daily.  Another option is bale grazing: setting out hay when the ground is dry or frozen then allow animals access to  hay in paddocks.