12-17 IAN Optimizing Bluegrass

 You got to know when to hold ‘em…know when to fold ‘em. Believe it or not that song from the gambler applies to bluegrass production. I’m David sparks and we’ll talk Kentucky bluegrass in Idaho in a minute. Bluegrass seed production, particularly in Northern, ID can be a big deal for some producers and, like any crop, strategy as a grower plays a big role in terms of the bottom line to the grower…as in profit. Kentucky bluegrass can provide growers with a profitable crop that also presents extensive environmental benefits, primarily by minimizing erosion. Field burning, which studies show lengthens the economic life of plantings, raises controversy because critics say it poses unacceptable health risks.

 Here’s the U of I science spokesman Bill Loftus: “If you can burn bluegrass, after harvest, then you get a better crop the next year and a longer stand life.” Professor Kate Painter, a farm and ranch management specialist in the U of I’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, knows that with limited management tools, a bluegrass planting might yield acceptable cash returns for only a year or two – or never. Painter produced an enterprise budget worksheet in Microsoft Excel that summarizes net returns for different residue treatment strategies and calculates net present value for long-lived bluegrass stands. On the other hand, with the right conditions and the right management tools, growers can keep the same bluegrass planting for seven years or more.