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Grazing North Texas – Scribner’s Panicum
By Tony Dean
Scribner’s panicum is one of our native perennial grasses in North Texas that goes mostly unnoticed, but it is probably more important to our grazing livestock than we realize. It can grow from six inches up to 18 inches in height, but can easily get lost in the maze of green that occurs in early spring months across our pastures.
Scribner’s panicum has been called by several other names, including Scribner’s dichanthelium, and Scribner’s rosette grass. The reference to rosette came from the fact that it is considered a winter perennial because it emerges in the fall and winter as a small group of leaves, or a rosette, then matures in May and June.
This grass has also had a change in its scientific name and is now called Dichanthelium oligosanthes. The genus comes from two Greek words, the first being “di,” meaning two, and the next being “anth,” meaning flowering, because Scribner’s panicum flowers (or makes a seed head) once in the spring and again in the fall. The seed head produced in the fall is usually smaller.
To read more pick up a copy of the June 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
One of my professors out at Texas Tech University always told us that we aren’t just raising cattle, we’re raising grass, because without grass there is no cattle business. The same applies to most livestock species and crops we seek to raise- without good land management, no good yield can grow.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Tony Dean
There are a handful of grasses on North Texas grazing lands ranchers need to know, not because they are highly desirable, but rather because they are not of much value. I call them “decom” plants, which is am acronym for “Don’t Ever Count On Me.” Silver bluestem is a “decom” grass.
Silver bluestem is a perennial which grows in all areas of Texas. It can survive in almost all soil types, and in full sun conditions or in semi shade. It grows up to three feet tall and is easily recognized with the presence of the white fuzzy seed head. Also, one of the identifying characteristics of Silver bluestem is a bend in the stems at each node, causing the plants to take on a rounded shape as they mature.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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