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tifton 85 we cut, its thick!

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12K views 20 replies 10 participants last post by  hay wilson in TX  
#1 ·
So much grass it was bogging the mower down if u went over 5 mph.
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Tifton 85 is the last and said to be the best of the hybrid bermudagrasses crossed and selected by Dr. Glen Burton, a research scientist who worked with the USDA ARS at the Tifton, Georgia location. This hybrid bermudagrass is limited in its growth to the more temporate climate of the southern states. It has been grown in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas but its said to shiver there.

Tifton 85 is a vigorously growing bermudagrass that when properly fertilized and adequately watered, should be cut every 21 to 28 days. If cutting is delayed, the stolons (above ground stems) become quite thickened and are difficult to get to dry without putting them through a crimper.

Like all hybrid bermudagrasses, the seeds produced are sterile and the grass must be planted from sprigs which are composed of stolons (above ground vegetation) attached to rhizomes (below ground runners)
See the following web site for more on Tifton 85:

http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/tifton85.htm
 
#13 ·
Indeed it was the work of Dr. Burton and his staff at UGA campus at ABAC in tifton ga. Several Bermuda grass varieties have been selected and crossed here.....everything from golf course, athletic field grasses to forage and pasture grasses. The bermuda grass programs have been a huge success, the tift 85 is a high yielding variety that has high cp for a Bermuda grass, it is also very stemmy and could stand to be conditioned upon cutting, ours consistently outyeilds our other varieties. We have stands that have been in production for 10 years. It really loves n and heat, the hotter the better, best suited for coastal plains.
 
#21 ·
T-85 is a real producer.

I like it for the thick stems. Just as with the sorghum sudan grasses. At one time the big deal was to plant with 100 lbs of seed/A for fine stems. Then they realized those thick stems were full of nutrients and now they plant 50 lbs/A of seed, HERE.

That thick stem will holds the grass up and retains the leaves. Not like Alicia which lays on the ground and ends up with 4 feet of stem and one foot of leaves.
T-85 may be 3 ft tall and leaves all the way to the ground.

I think it is superior as a grazing forage. It will remain standing after the frost and still have good food value in February and March. That makes T-85 a real money maker, it can save you all the cost of harvesting forages. Grazing cost $1 maybe $2 a day for feed, but hay is more than $5 a day for feed.
Be in the forage growing business and use livestock to harvest.
You do not make any money feeding cows, not until you go to the feed lot, and maybe not then.

You realize I make my money selling hay to those who do not follow this advise.