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Reestablishing
Pastures and Hay Meadows - Seeding
Rates
There is a wide
range in seed sizes among the forage species. For example, in the
species listed in Table
2 , seed size ranges from about 30,000 (sainfoin) to
about 2.2 million (Kentucky bluegrass) seeds per pound. For successful
forage seeding, producers must properly place the recommended number
of PLS per square foot of soil.
For example,
in a new seeding of crested wheatgrass with a purity of 98.5% and
germination of 84% (PLS = 82.7%) a seeding rate of 6 pounds per
acre (Table
2 value of 5 pounds per acre/0.827) would be required.
For seed mixtures, the number of pounds of PLS of each species is
calculated separately, and then divided by the number of species
in the mixture.
A great deal
of early agronomic work with Montana’s forage crops has resulted
in appropriate “recommended” PLS seeding rates for both
dryland and irrigated conditions, as shown in Table
2 . (See your local MSU Extension Service county agent
or NRCS field office for more details.)
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