What has caused my bermudagrass to thin and be less productive?
The past few years have been incredibly stressful on our perennial forages. Prolonged and extreme drought in successive seasons, late spring freezes, uncontrolled weed problems, …. You name it, and we’ve seen it. As a result, many of our forage stands have thinned considerably. One of the most common reports that I have received is of bermudagrass stands that have gone from a solid stand to less than a 50% stand “just in the last year or so.” This problem is broadly called “bermudagrass decline.” The reason this term is so broad is because this problem is often linked to several causes. Often several factors will occur simultaneously, so it is quite difficult to pinpoint what actually caused the problem. However, there are some causes that are most likely the cause and then there are other factors that make things worse. This article will present the primary causes of bermudagrass decline, but will also briefly list some secondary factors that exacerbate the problem.
