propper grass
"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
- Thread starter Kiwi Pete
- Start date
Maybe, there's just not much of it...
We’ve found regrowth slow this last month. Clay soil very hard and dry.
- Location
- Devon
Same here. Story of the summer really, with a few respites during short wet spells.
Growing again now. Just hope it doesn't all turn too wet too soon.
We’ve had a few showers but missed the bulk of the heavy stuff. 1 ley that usually grows rapidly is very slow after hay time 6 weeks ago.
Think we have had over two inches of rain in the last week, grass is growing again, its gone from silly hot to a definite autumnal feel.
passed the pre move test yesterday so 13 bullocks from 10 to 16 months to go over the next couple weeks will knock the demand back
- Location
- Devon
Yes, same here
Whitewalker
Member
Over the pond in Ni we are near washed out . Apart from a few dry days now and again it’s been consistently wet
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
As per usual then?
exmoor dave
Member
- Location
- exmoor, uk
That's really interesting, I've got some steep slopes that are very gorsey (and brambles), which despite cutting abd spraying.....and burning..... the gorse seems to be getting worse.
Liming would help, but there's no way of getting lime on to these slopes economically.
Sounds like I need to get some electric fences up to keep animals on there, the slopes are grazed, but at best passing browsing, so little concentration of pee/ muck
Whitewalker
Member
- Location
- Derbyshire
I feel guilty for reading these comments about lack of grass. Apart from the last week in May when growth slowed down, it really has been a perfect grazing season here . . . so far.
Happy cows, happy days
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
Its knowing that its normal somewhere encourages people to think it will be normal at home again some day! Glad you’re having a good summer farm-wiseI feel guilty for reading these comments about lack of grass. Apart from the last week in May when growth slowed down, it really has been a perfect grazing season here . . . so far.
Happy cows, happy days
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
I think that’s the ticket. cheaper too. Maybe keep them on gorsey ground tightly at night and better ground during the day if possible?
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
I haven’t been happy with my large reels which I use to backfence as they are always shorting. I can’t find the problem so I made do:
Finally a use for car carpets , bits of rope and beat up blue barrels.
Finally a use for car carpets , bits of rope and beat up blue barrels.
Whitewalker
Member
I have been threatening to put full reels onto two reels as I never use half the wire and it’s far too heavy
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Legumes alone are very destructive to the soil. When trying to take a pan to do a water infiltration test, we had to use a sawzall to try and cut the soil. This was alfalfa under pivot too! No soil structure. The soil was like a rock and I believe we could have played baseball with it and not broke the clods up.
When I hear of people planting straight legumes ahead of corn Or planting winter kill grass species with over wintering legumes, I think of how much less water infiltration and water holding capacity those soils will have. Legumes are carbon greedy. Some clovers and vetch have great fibrous root systems that can make the soil mellow in the top inch or two but they still drastically reduce soils ability to feed microbes the carbon that is needed. Legumes require so much carbon to make a unit of nitrogen. They also leak out nitrogenous compounds that cause microbes in the soil starve for carbon which makes them begin consuming soil aggregates and collapses the soil profile.
This happens when too much nitrogen is applied at once. The soil has a 10:1 nitrogen to sulfur ratio and a 10:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio. This is why I recommend a carbon source applied with nitrogen applications and for nitrogen applications to be applied with sulfur as well at the same ratio as the soil is naturally.
** cut & pasted from FaceBook
Sorry I've been flat stick this week gone and not really got around to answering @Rob Garrett's question about the F:B ratio (and this ties in with the C:N ratio of what the soil biome is fed)
A good bit of clover is a good thing, sure, but you want plenty of C to balance it out.
Even if it's just "filler" or "weed grasses" it will still be useful to have it
Just as buttercups are better than bare soil and a bunch of docks are better than the chicory that didn't grow yet - the present is all we have
When I hear of people planting straight legumes ahead of corn Or planting winter kill grass species with over wintering legumes, I think of how much less water infiltration and water holding capacity those soils will have. Legumes are carbon greedy. Some clovers and vetch have great fibrous root systems that can make the soil mellow in the top inch or two but they still drastically reduce soils ability to feed microbes the carbon that is needed. Legumes require so much carbon to make a unit of nitrogen. They also leak out nitrogenous compounds that cause microbes in the soil starve for carbon which makes them begin consuming soil aggregates and collapses the soil profile.
This happens when too much nitrogen is applied at once. The soil has a 10:1 nitrogen to sulfur ratio and a 10:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio. This is why I recommend a carbon source applied with nitrogen applications and for nitrogen applications to be applied with sulfur as well at the same ratio as the soil is naturally.
** cut & pasted from FaceBook
Sorry I've been flat stick this week gone and not really got around to answering @Rob Garrett's question about the F:B ratio (and this ties in with the C:N ratio of what the soil biome is fed)
A good bit of clover is a good thing, sure, but you want plenty of C to balance it out.
Even if it's just "filler" or "weed grasses" it will still be useful to have it
Just as buttercups are better than bare soil and a bunch of docks are better than the chicory that didn't grow yet - the present is all we have
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Great idea, those car mats are great insulators. I've used one the odd time to effect repairs on live fence, cuts down the shock really nicely to a mild pulse
- Location
- Devon
I've done that with a few reels this year.
Still got the wrapper for long runs.
- Location
- Derbyshire UK
Top bloke @kiwipete
This has got to be the best thread on TFF, just when I think I've got my head round something i.e. "more legumes the better" you manage to nudge/challenge my thinking! [emoji848][emoji106]