The boys at the local feed and seed store chuckled at me today.  I asked if they carried crabgrass seed.  The reply, “People would give their right arm to get rid of their crabgrass.  You must be pulling my leg.”  Well, in mid-March I attended a forage conference near Linneus, Missouri.  As you might assume, all the attendees were farmers and/or ranchers.  As talk of forage management evolved, the subject of crabgrass came up and these farmers and ranchers started discussing the possibility of inter-seeding crabgrass into their pastures.  The thought was to lightly till or drag pastures in May then broadcast seed at a rate of four pounds per acre.  Graze at eight to ten inches.  Also mentioned was that crabgrass seed is pricey, however it reseeds itself if managed properly.

This discussion stuck with me so when I went to purchase some fescue and orchard grass seed, I inquired about crabgrass seed.  When the clerk realized that I was serious, he did offer to look up the availability and price.  I declined, but thanked him all the same and went out to get my purchased seed loaded.  As the dock loaders tossed the seed bags into my Cherokee, they said, “So, tell us about this crabgrass seed.”  “Well”, I said, “In mid-March…”

As I pulled away, I could just picture those feed store fellows settling back into the old, worn chairs they had left in order to assist me and start talking about the girl who came in asking about crabgrass seed.  Seed for a grass nobody wants.

The Noble Foundation and Auburn University are a few places that have done research on using crabgrass as a forage.  It sounds promising but management is key.

After returning home, I did price crabgrass seed… $325.00 per fifty pound bag.  Pricey is right.