Establishing Native Warm-Season Grass Stands under Grazing

This award is for Virginia Tech to document, demonstrate and educate livestock producers and conservation professionals about economical, alternative establishment techniques for establishing warm season grass stands that decrease establishment time, minimize vegetative competition, and maintain use of the field(s) during establishment. Despite the well-established benefits of warm season grasses, livestock producers can be reluctant to adopt them in their grazing systems. The overarching goal of this project is to test innovative methods that can improve the establishment of native grass stands, while allowing that land to remain in production. This project has two primary objectives: 1 - Evaluate establishment of native grass stands under three levels of grazing management that vary access of livestock to developing stands, and 2 - Demonstrate how small grain cover crops can be used to reduce weed pressure, provide forage for livestock and help improve the establishment of native grass stands.