- Location
- Cheshire
My old fella would want me to do at least 250 acre with it... ??Sounds not too bad if its a 160 acre field, ...2 1/2 cwt an acre
My old fella would want me to do at least 250 acre with it... ??Sounds not too bad if its a 160 acre field, ...2 1/2 cwt an acre
Can't remember if Tordon granules are available in the EUK or not (picloram)Bit
bit of an issue on the silage / hay fields though..
Have been spraying it off, but that also kills clovers etc ..
Considering running around with the quad and spot spraying with glyphosate this year..
Thoughts ??
It will always be there, that's the big "problem with weeds" in that you're seriously deluding yourself if you believe not letting weeds seed out will diminish themcleared ragwort from here, ewes nibbled it out, never seen one die after eating it. cousin has a gang in every year to pull it out, on some steep land, they have been coming for years.
Pete, can I ask how long is your grass at it's longest ? Do you control the hight by making hay eta? Not been critical just interested , thanksProbably the biggest thing is, when you graze the grass right down is really important.
Most pasture experts suggest this right time is: right through the growing season
My discovery: following this advice buggers your grass and limits production immensely
We graze higher and higher through the growing season and then lower and lower until it's gone - in the late winter there are no thistledowns and suchlike for your stock to "plant"
There are about 1200kg of clover seeds alone in nearly every acre of soil, so if you aren't seeing clover then it is probably management
If you are seeing weeds then.... it is probably also management
What weeds are you seeing, these are your indicator species?
eg spreading thistles indicate compaction/low oxygen in the soil, low calcium function, good potash and phosphate levels
You can of course spray them, in which case you will not benefit from what they are trying to do, and again they will have tons of seed in the soil whether you top them or not.
Soil disturbance/bare soil is all it takes for more to pop up, hence new leys are generally either money-pits, weed nurseries, or both
How on earth would that work?wonder if the public would be so entertained, if you ran a few companion dogs with your sheep ? or do the doncs do the same job ? In some ways, a pity we don't run dogs in the UK
About knee deep, otherwise the sheep get too much seed in their eyes.Pete, can I ask how long is your grass at it's longest ? Do you control the hight by making hay eta? Not been critical just interested , thanks
Does that not rely too heavily on market prices at the time or are they fairly consistent?About knee deep, otherwise the sheep get too much seed in their eyes.
That must have been what @Dry Rot's teacher meant.View attachment 856365
We used to make silage in summer but not anymore, this year the clamp is empty; we may buy some in yet and crank up the barn for more cows... but probably not.
Largely we just store grass on the land, if it gets too much then we bring in more stock.. and sell some off well before we get low.
Yes, it grows good docks here!
Yes, it grows good docks here!
I am not scared to have a few about
Well it seems He's not got the dislike/ predujice/ hate/fear ( underline as appropriate).... Of them that we might have....@cousinjack ,@Bury the Trash .......not committing?
Depends what the stock owe you - we mainly just take on grazers as an "adjustment" and so it's relatively immune from meat pricing structures.Does that not rely too heavily on market prices at the time or are they fairly consistent?
I can't get my head around altering animal numbers so dramatically over a relatively short space of time, but I guess it's all food for thought...
It requires a complete re-alignment of my brain and how farming works which may not be a bad thing !!
Making money seldom "looks pretty"but it doesn’t look pretty! ?