GRASS MAKES ITS OWN FOOD

For Growth, Forage, Good Land Use, and For Soil Conservation

Grasses, like all green plants, live and grow on food manufactured primarily in their own green leaves. Ranges, pastures, lawns, or other grass crops can flourish and conserve soil only as the individual plants have an opportunity to make food for their own growth.

Plant food is manufactured in the leaves, and not, as many people suppose, drawn from the roots or the soil. The plant gets the “raw materials” to make food from the soil and the air. Because the plant’s “food factory” is above the ground, grazing, mowing, or clipping promptly stops production to the extent that green foliage is removed.

A Perennial Grass stores food in its roots after it has made the season’s main growth. It uses these reserves to live on while the plant is dormant, to make the first growth next season, and to start new growth after its green leaves and stems are closely grazed or cut. The ability of perennial grasses to recover quickly after grazing or mowing makes these plants especially valuable for forage production and soil conservation. This same ability often deceives the user of grass into thinking he can repeatedly remove any amount of leaves without injury to the plant.

What happens to grass plants that repeatedly lose their green leaves during the growing season? Since no “food factories” are left to receive and combine the raw materials from the soil and air, the plant keeps drawing on food stored in the roots to grow new leaves. It robs the storehouse until the supply is exhausted and then dies of starvation.

Research shows that many grasses will not reach their maximum vigor and growth when more than half their leaf surface is removed by frequent grazing or mowing.

Repeated removal of green foliage causes a corresponding reduction in the plant root system. Top growth that is kept small cannot feed a large root system; neither can a stunted root system supply enough raw materials to support a large growth of stems and leaves.

A grass cover that is weak does not make efficient use of soil moisture and nutrients. As a result it does not provide the maximum amount of livestock feed. And it is not able to protect the soil from erosion by wind or water.

A dense cover of grass protects the soil from the battering, splashing action of rain. The leaves break up the raindrops and allow more water to soak into the soil, thus preventing erosion, conserving moisture for plant growth, and restoring underground water supplies. The higher and denser the grass, the better it shades the soil and keeps it cool. This reduces loss of water by evaporation and enables grass to grow better in hot weather.

For every pound of growth above ground, most grasses produce a pound or more of roots. Some of the better forage grasses send their roots down 10 to 15 feet. Some lawn grasses may penetrate as deep as 3 to 4 feet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you're interested in sponsoring an ad in the newsletter, or want extra copies of the newsletter, please contact Pat at the District office, 830-997-3349 ext. 3.

Back to Gillespie Co SWCD
Home Page

The Gillespie County SWCD #220 prohibits discrimination in its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply in all programs.) "An Equal Opportunity Employer"