Tag Archives: Tim Harrigan

Seeding Annual Ryegrass in Manure Slurry

Tim Harrigan, University of Michigan associate professor and agronomist, has developed farm equipment to deliver cover crop seed as part of a tank of manure slurry.

Livestock farmers have excess manure; planting a cover crop creates the perfect way to dispose of the excess nutrients to benefit a newly seeded annual ryegrass cover crop. With a cover crop on the field all winter, it holds the nutrients in the field, in the soil, instead of it leaching into nearby waterways. Then, when the annual ryegrass is terminated in the spring, it has tons of “scavenged” nitrogen to give to the oncoming corn or soybean crop.

Harrigan devised a way to deliver both the seed and the nutrient slurry together in one operation. “Combining several farming operations into one saves farmers time and money, at a time (fall) when we’re pressed to get all these things done,” Harrigan said.

Check out this video of the operation: http://tinyurl.com/5va5n5q

Planting Annual Ryegrass – Tips for Success

The last blog post discussed the best planting dates for annual ryegrass, depending on whether you drill or broadcast with plane or high clearance equipment.

Many others are broadcasting annual ryegrass seed (after corn harvest) mixed in with manure slurry. This is a great solution for those raising livestock, looking for a way to recycle manure and a great source of nutrients for the young grass.

In some places, with ideal conditions, you can get a bit of grazing or a cutting before the end of the year. Otherwise, the return out of dormancy next spring will allow a grazing or cutting of annual ryegrass.

Using annual ryegrass as a forage – whether grazed or haylage – can provide additional savings on livestock feed, while providing a high quality food.

Here’s a link to a video on the application of annual ryegrass seed with a manure slurry.