Crabgrass

In-Depth

Crabgrass is a low-growing annual grass that is present in most cultivated fields and pastures in the state. It is a good reseeding plant that can furnish summer grazing following winter annual grazing mixtures or legumes harvested for seed. Crabgrass is not drought tolerant and grows best when soil moisture conditions are good. Cattle will usually selectively graze crabgrass in preference to fescue, bahiagrass, or bermudagrass. Forage from crabgrass is very palatable, highly digestible, and generally the highest quality of all the summer annuals. The productive season is from May until October, though most of the forage will be produced in late summer. Red River crabgrass, a productive collection from an upland site north of the Red River in southern Oklahoma, is the only commercially-available variety and has not been adequately evaluated in Georgia.

See Establishment of Warm Season Annual Grasses for more details.

Dr. Dennis Hancock
Forage Extension Specialist
Crop & Soil Sciences Dept.