Val-Mar or other dry applicators ????

[TimH]

I'm thinking of buying a Val-Mar applicator to mount on my harrrow bar to seed grass and alfalfa with.
For those who are not familiar with the Val -Mar name, it is simply a forced air seed metering system, designed for distributing granular fertilizer/seed or herbicide.(much like a modern air seeeder)
I was just curious if other folks had any expierence that they would care to share with a dummy like me!!!! :lol:
I have about 70 acres of really sour ground that I am going to summerfallow and then seed down late this fall to something that will actually grow there!!! Slender wheat grass/red clover or whatever?????
I'm tired of trying to get a crop out of this ground burning $4.00/a gallon diesel!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[Anonymous]

TimH--We rented one a few years ago from the seedhouse for seeding alfalfa and it worked good--We just pulled it behind a pickup and seeded about 120 acres-- Since then my neighbor has bought it from the seedhouse and uses it quite a bit.....Problem I saw was that you couldn't mix grass and alfalfa with it......

I have a broadcaster that mounts on a 3 point that works good for seeding grass/alfalfa/clover mixtures....Best is to seed after it freezes and the growing season ends-- Broadcast it, harrow it or pull a drag over it and let the snow come along and take the seed down.....

 

[don]

i have a valmar mounted on a heavy harrow. last year i put in the grass seed rollers and the agitator. seeded a brome/alfalfa/milkvetch mix early this spring and it fed really well. that and three inches of rain this past week and it looks like we'll have a good stand.

 

[TimH]

Oldtimer- ".....Problem I saw was that you couldn't mix grass and alfalfa with it...... "

How so ??? Bridging in the hopper?? Segregating of different sized seeds???
This particular piece of ground,that I'm going to seed, is going to need about 5 different types of seed put on . It goes from saline to alkaline and back again every 50 feet.(should never have been broke up...my brother did it.!!!!.....It is so wet right now that I won't be able to touch it until mid-July....) I just want to get it sown down and never touch it again!!!!!!!
Any tips on what to sow in there???? Slender wheat-grass and red clover are a couple things that I know will grow in there.
There is a few spots in this field that won't even grow WEEDS!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

TimH--this was an older model and you couldn't seed two different sized seeds as I remember it---

As far as mixtures- I've tried several with varying results--orchardgrass, fescue, alsike clover, brome, garrison foxtail, wheatgrass....A mixture that many used around here successfully was 2.4 lbs western wheatgrass, 2.4lbs slender wheatgrass and 4 lbs alfalfa...The two wheatgrasses have differing maturity stages-- One (I can't remember which) grows a good stand right away, but doesn't last as good for as many years while the other takes longer to develop a stand but will take over and produce for years....I never tried it yet, but the seedhouse said it was one of the best mixtures they were having luck with on the hi-line here....

Last year I seeded some pricey Pioneer hybrid alfalfa seed on some irrigated land-- Got a good stand and it came back good this spring- but it frosted in the cold spring and is set back--But right beside it is a field of old cheap Vernal alfalfa that is growing beautiful....

I wish we had your rain- we are just finishing up irrigating about 300 acres...The dryland hay is greening up but not looking that good- kind of a dry green color.....

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

TimH--this was an older model and you couldn't seed two different sized seeds as I remember it---

As far as mixtures- I've tried several with varying results--orchardgrass, fescue, alsike clover, brome, garrison foxtail, wheatgrass....A mixture that many used around here successfully was 2.4 lbs western wheatgrass, 2.4lbs slender wheatgrass and 4 lbs alfalfa...The two wheatgrasses have differing maturity stages-- One (I can't remember which) grows a good stand right away, but doesn't last as good for as many years while the other takes longer to develop a stand but will take over and produce for years....I never tried it yet, but the seedhouse said it was one of the best mixtures they were having luck with on the hi-line here....

Last year I seeded some pricey Pioneer hybrid alfalfa seed on some irrigated land-- Got a good stand and it came back good this spring- but it frosted in the cold spring and is set back--But right beside it is a field of old cheap Vernal alfalfa that is growing beautiful....

I wish we had your rain- we are just finishing up irrigating about 300 acres...The dryland hay is greening up but not looking that good- kind of a dry green color.....

The slender wheat grass would be the first to establish. There is another grass called Newhy I think. It is a quackgrass high bred but might do quite well on that piece of land especially if you can use it for grazing.

 

[Faster horses]

Newhy Grass~a quackgrass hybrid?

My husband likes quackgrass, didn't know where to get seed (? no one else even likes it, I didn't think). Anyhow, where can we get some information on it? Interesting!!!

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

I will try to find some info for you.

 

[TimH]

BMR, If it is a quack grass hybrid it should do well here!!!! I do battle with quack grass on a regular basis,in other fields, and I nearly always lose!!!!
I broke up a piece of alfalfa ground,a couple years ago, that the quack grass had taken over. We were pulling up soooo much quack grass roots that we finally went out with the old dump rake and raked them up and burned them.......3 times!!!!!!! Talk about something that burns HOT!!!!!!!
One good thing about quack grass,though, is it keeps my sand from blowing away when you get wind like we have had here for the last few days. :lol: :shock:

 

[cowsense]

A few years ago we were at a grazing seminar and one of the speakers related how he had fought quackgrass on his sandy farmland for his entire life (pre- glyphosphates). His solution was to fence the land and to intensively graze. He increased his own herd and takes in custom cattle. Quack responds very well to fertilizer and with a bit of moisture is one of the toughest grasses available. He stated that he was making more money with far fewer inputs than anything else he had ever grown on that land and that "life was good".

We hope to try some NewHy ourselves on some saline ground. Seed is a little pricey yet at over 5.00/lb.

 

[Faster horses]

Our neighbor in Western Mt. had Quackgrass in his calving lots and there was always grass there, not bare dirt, even with a lot of cows in those lots most of the time in the spring. That is when my husband became enamored with it, but we never knew where to find any seed. It always seemed to be green and the cows always seemed to like to eat it.

Do you think it does well in heavier ground as opposed to sandy?