Awful year on new KBG/OG field/pasture

Quick history.

Purchased 85ac of SB/Corn with remote history of tobacco (uncertain how long ago).

Planed Annual rye spring 2017 which did well everywhere. Disced and prepped all fields and put in alfalfa/OG on 20ac, Timothy on 10ac, and KBG/OG on about 40ac. All put in last fall.

Nothing at all did well.

Reason for this particular post is 2fold. The Timothy and the KBG/OG.

The Timothy really did nothing at all. I had quite a bit of volunteer rye and very little Timothy. Now, I have weeds, perhaps some Timothy, and posts of crabgrass. I don’t know whether it would be best to leave it alone, spray it with Roundup in early spring and replant or just drill into it this fall, or spray and drill this fall (although it’s getting late in the year and it will be wet for at least a week it looks like). I’m a little hesitant to roundup this fall because of ground cover for winter. So I Lena towards either drilling into it now or waiting on everything until spring.

And in my KBG/OG... I have some areas that the OG did OK, but I have at least 20ac that almost nothing grew. And these have always been treated exactly the same. I think I might just mow everything as short as I can, and NT 2 directions. I was thinking mixed none coated seed 10/10lbs KBG Ginger/HarveStar. I’d say some areas have 20% coverage and some 50% coverage currently. Lots of weeds including a bumper crop of foxtail and crabgrass this year.

I’ve contacted my Extension office several times this year and they have no idea why things are so bad on these fields. Given the foxtail, the thought was nutritive values being off, but soil samples show them right where they should be in all areas.

I’m wanting the KBG/OG for horse pasture next year, and wanted to have a good stand before I put in fences. I have a last ‘easy chance’ to do something this fall otherwise, I’m going to be doing this around fences which is always harder.

Any thoughts on whether to spray this fall and winter and drill again early spring or drill now, and go to war with weeds in the spring?

I’m at a loss, and the folks in the know seem to be right there with me.

Awful year on new KBG/OG field/pasture