The present status of range reseeding in New Mexico

              NEI'J MUGCO COLIEGE OF AGRICULTI'RE AND IIECHANIC ARTS
AND AGRICULTUMT EI(PERIT,MIT STATION
Press BuLletin 987
THE PNESEM STAruS OF RANCTE RESEEDING IN NEI'II M$$CO
Informatibn f\rrnished recently by the'United States Grazing Service, Soil-Con-servation
Service, county Sctension agents, and others indicates that the artificial
reseeding of rangi Land in New Mexico-in at Dq€bqol belng practiced more extensively
than at iny tXrnJin the past. However, the ieseeding of such land in this $tate has
not yet beicme so o:cbensirre as in Stat6s farther north or in some parts of-the -Pan-handie
of Texas, Many practical stockmen and farmers have now become'convj.nced that
there are nu[erous "rlas in New Mocico, sorne of thern rather orbenstve, that- it'wou1d
pay to reseed, but in some cases seEd bel-ieved to be'sultable is not availabl-e. This
sliuation ls '6efug rernedied, however, to'some extentr.a!_!he present tirne.
In the conpaiativeLy hieh altitudes, frorn about 61000 to 7r5@ or 8r000.feet
above sea Level, crested wheatgrass and, inooth bronegrass_have been the species which
hsve usr:a1ly gii'en the rnost sa{isfactory results. Both of these begin g1ovlth a-ferv
lreeks earLilr-in the spring than the natl.ve grasses on the rengei and this is.often
of great advantage to ihe,itocknan They alio conti.nuo growbn un!i|. comparatively
Iate in the fa[] After ttrey have becornl weIL established, they both providg excel-ient
grazing. Biou g"ar. griss has.aLso'been used to some extent for reseedlng in
New M6:cico, although-prObaUty not so e:cbensively as in sorne of the adjoining States;
Vfceping loiegrass fgkfgg$* Sryrlg) has given good results in eastern New Moxlco,
but,t heatreasseaa@to[histirnehavenotbeenv9ryextensive, Since Press Bglletin ?81r- entltled rrThe Place of Johnson Grass in Range Resee&
ingr" iras issued by this Srcpeitment Station in 19351 large areas have been seeded to
tfrf! grass, vlhlch is receiving hi€h comnendation as a forago plant by sone of the
stockmen and farners and thoroughly condemned as a weed pest by tm.rly farnersi espe-clally
iglgation farmers in this State, 'Ib was recently estl-mated that in one
count! alonl in southern Arizona about 50r0OO &eres are lncluded in fLoodwater
pro5ects, and a large percentage of the forage that is grown thereon is Johnson
!r"Ir. irri* sp"cfei is also t[e princip$ o-qe that has been used on floodwater areas
fn Obero and olher counties of southern New Mexico. In sorne parts of the Texas
iaoh*al*, Johnson grass has been planted on qcbensive areas wtrich do not receive
runoff. i,special-ly on sandy soil it has produced weLl and on such soiL has caused
iittf"-or nb poisoning of livestock. However, poisoning has_occurred, in some casest
wtren the Johnion erasl has been raised in thai reglon on soils of heavy texture.
Many tons of chamLza (&f!Eerc c?neEcagp) seed were broadcast on New Mexi-co
range1andsevera1yearsa@ke1ythatanyconsiderab1eper-centage
of itrj.s produced uultres th;t- survived,. It is seldon that a stand of this val"uabLe
browse sirub can be obtained unless the land has'been plowed recently. Much smalLer
qtrantitius of seed. of rvinterfat (E\rrotia,lgg*a)p.another-vahrabl'e browso shrub, were
d1sobroadeast,andwherettre1@-thorougtr1.ydiskedandtheseednot
covered too deiply, a fairly good stanilwas obtainedr -ln^a! least one oi tno casesr'
Rabbits are very d6structivb io both young cha.nriza and winterfat bushes.
'lrlhil-e Ladai< alfal_fa has not been grorarn to any considerabLe extent for range re-seeding,
it is fraray and fairly drouth-resistant, qd +1. places. will probably be
found trthy of figlher trialr.ej.!her aLone or-nlxed with smooth bronegrass.,.
tehmann fov"s"*"u glegtgg$g lehqrEnrliana) *a Boer lovegrass ($"t4}.gllis,
"nro"*LG") have"given @ots in coraparatively low altitudes of
$ffi-rn-New lfexic6, but have nof, yet been used at aLL extensiveJ;y for range te-seeding,