Demand Grows For Crabgrass Seed

Demand Grows For Crabgrass Seed CROPS Miscellaneous It has been 17 years since FARM SHOW first reported on crabgrass as a forage crop Vol 18 No 2 R L Dalrymple now sells two varieties of the seed Demand continues to grow as more people become familiar with it “We sell across the entire country but the 23 states in the South and the East are our major market ” says Dalrymple Elstel Farm & Seeds “We have a lot of return customers but there are still a lot of people who haven’t heard of using crabgrass for forage ” Dalrymple’s Red River Crabgrass RRCG and Quick-N-Big are different than the low growing weed you find in your lawn The forage varieties grow around 3 ft high spread by stolons that can grow 4 ft long and produce enough seed for volunteer re-establishment It’s one of the highest-quality summer grasses stays green until frost and can continue to be grazed after frost In a two year Florida study the RRCG averaged 15 2 percent protein and 76 8 percent digestibility This past spring Red River Crabgrass seed sold for only $6 per pound; however seed may be a problem next year due to the drought conditions in Oklahoma “Our crabgrass fields stayed green longer than others but eventually they turned brown as well ” says Dalrymple He notes that his fields had no measureable rain in 7 weeks and more than 40 days with temperatures of 100° or more The weather bureau reports the area has had the least rain since 1921 “It is mind boggling to me even though I have worked with these grasses since 1972 ” says Dalrymple “The Quick-N-Big still grew knee high and was enough to swath for some seed and bale for hay ” In a good year he says the crop yields 6 tons of dry matter per acre under intensive management Average returns are closer to two to three tons of dry matter per acre in a pure stand “It can be seeded to a pure stand at a rate of 3 to 6 lbs /acre or used in a mix of summer forages ” he says “It can also be double cropped with winter annual grasses ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Elstel Farm and Seeds 2640 Springdale Rd Ardmore Okla 73401 ph 580 223-8782 or 800 858-7333; rlandpat@cableone net; www redrivercrabgrass com

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