Grass harrow to rejuvenate pasture?

[Chris123]

Roller roller roller roller roller, then roll it again

You forgot to put the seed on!!

 

[BSH]

IME the key to making it work is to harrow hard., three or four passes with the harrow, then use a good competitive grass designed for overseeding.

 

[Nithsdale]

IME the key to making it work is to harrow hard., three or four passes with the harrow, then use a good competitive grass designed for overseeding.

I think this is what most people don't do, then moan it doesn't work.

You have to break the cap on the soil and have a loose bed to put seed into. 3-4 passes with the Harrow before seeding, minimum

 

[hally]

3 or 4 passes will have the added advantage of knocking the crap out of the old grass allowing the new to germinate

 

[ollie989898]

IME the key to making it work is to harrow hard., three or four passes with the harrow, then use a good competitive grass designed for overseeding.

'Good competitive grass'- tetraploids, which are not known for their persistence.

To be fair, we have (at least in this area) had two very hot seasons and people do like to cut low and hoof slurry on afterwards. There is not much in the grass world that is going to sit up and beg for more of that.

 

[primmiemoo]

Maybe magic hooves and nibbly teeth work better than machinery to achieve that seed-soil contact, and sort out competition from established grasses, but it's good to see that last year's efforts are showing progress.

The clover hasn't had a check this winter, so we feel its bacteria have fixed equivalent to more than a flitter of bagged N for the grass already.

 

[betweenthelines]

Sow into brown, not green.

 

[aledjones3130]

not over impressed with scratching the seed in, we do all the above, but d/drill, the seed is then properly connected to the soil. Having bought a drill last year, specificly for drilling grass, and overseeding, we have been very pleased with results, it's way better than scratching it in.

what drill did you buy.?

 

[som farmer]

what drill did you buy.?

vaderstat 30 rapid, older machine, but very well maintained, smaller arable farmer, gone over to having it contract farmed, local dealer gave us a shout, when he knew we were looking. £7,500. Worth more to us, with cross drilling, of forage rape, and grass, 130 acres last autumn. Behind the rape, and hybred rye, another 60 acres, x2 this spring, to do.

 

[livestock 1]

vaderstat 30 rapid, older machine, but very well maintained, smaller arable farmer, gone over to having it contract farmed, local dealer gave us a shout, when he knew we were looking. £7,500. Worth more to us, with cross drilling, of forage rape, and grass, 130 acres last autumn. Behind the rape, and hybred rye, another 60 acres, x2 this spring, to do.

Neighbour used a Vaderstad rapid for grass seed and had no success too deep I think

 

[som farmer]

Neighbour used a Vaderstad rapid for grass seed and had no success too deep I think

son had a mate, who was anal about machines, came out, and set it up for us, explained all the settings etc, other wise, we might not have had such good results !

 

[Kiwi Pete]

'Good competitive grass'- tetraploids, which are not known for their persistence.

To be fair, we have (at least in this area) had two very hot seasons and people do like to cut low and hoof slurry on afterwards. There is not much in the grass world that is going to sit up and beg for more of that.

Certainly no grass that farmers seem to want!
"Old weed grass", eh?

Funny how the good stuff can't compete with it without a whole lotta help.

Completely agree, as per @Global ovine's post

 

[livestock 1]

son had a mate, who was anal about machines, came out, and set it up for us, explained all the settings etc, other wise, we might not have had such good results !

What depth are you on?

 

[ollie989898]

Certainly no grass that farmers seem to want!
"Old weed grass", eh?

Funny how the good stuff can't compete with it.

Don't you start with all that! ?

 

[Bury the Trash]

Certainly no grass that farmers seem to want!
"Old weed grass", eh?

Funny how the good stuff can't compete with it without a whole lotta help.

Just lately Pete, I have been conducting my own trials on overgrazing

My findings are that cocksfoot is as tough as old boots

Small leaved WC is another one good at taking it ( as long the other things it need s are provided as in above post .

Also rushes seem to gave coped well ...

That cocksfoot mind, doesnt like the mower ..... that cuts out the ' clump' not so good,

Thats Got me thinking actually I won der if the older and iirc more ' clumpy' varieties of cft were tougher

And actually I might move this post to the 'improve me lot thread'

 

[JD-Kid]

Totally agree with the highlighted sentence. Therefore 4 options exist to rejuvenate a field of pasture in order of time taken and certainly cost per hectare:

1. Spray out (optional depending on persistence of undesirable plants) and plough as in conventional reseeding.
2. Spray out at full chemical rates (up to 5 L/ha of Roundup) and direct drill (preferably diamond pattern at half rate with each pass), may need slug bait.
3. Chemical top with 300 mls/ha of Roundup and single pass with direct drill, but only in cases where a new cultivar is introduced into pastures where good clover and desired grasses are present. This reduces the competition for light helping the emerging seedlings. Gives a huge clover burst if done when soil temperatures climb into the teens.
4. Intensively subdivide the field into blocks and graze to lower residuals. Smaller areas and more frequent shifts reduce feed stress on animals. Two growing seasons of this treatment will change the sward composition back to about the same as a three year old ley.

BUT firstly the question has to be asked, "why has the sward composition deteriorated in that field?"
Is it due to poor grazing management allowing the animals too much choice to encourage undesirable species to dominate?
Is there a physical problem such as poor drainage?
Is it a soil fertility problem, such as a macro element deficiency?
Or a mix of the above?

It is very easy to waste seed and effort if the cause of the original problem is not addressed and half baked treatments are used as a repair kit.

done some trials here with. weird things sunflowers. etc etc etc. been listening to Sandel wearing mates too much
it did dry out after seeding on going rains may of made a diffrence
no spray grazed in to the ground. and. grazed after drilling for a few days write off
300mls ummm ho hum some. strike alot of poorer grasses. come back
600 mls a lot better , had spray left over so done random passes to get rid of it.
1000mls with. a few. things added SoA and some oils took out 99% of the paddock
from the trials in the spring going in to a dryer spell would not do any thing less than 600 mls and if heated up can kill out. quite good at 1000 mls
round up used was 540Ai
paddocks older Lucerne cocksfoot paddock with. navite. grasses coming back. for the 300 and 600ml trial
1000ml older paddock mostly older native grasses. been worked and regrassed in the last 15 years

 

[Bury the Trash]

done some trials here with. weird things sunflowers. etc etc etc. been listening to Sandel wearing mates too much
it did dry out after seeding on going rains may of made a diffrence
no spray grazed in to the ground. and. grazed after drilling for a few days write off
300mls ummm ho hum some. strike alot of poorer grasses. come back
600 mls a lot better , had spray left over so done random passes to get rid of it.
1000mls with. a few. things added SoA and some oils took out 99% of the paddock
from the trials in the spring going in to a dryer spell would not do any thing less than 600 mls and if heated up can kill out. quite good at 1000 mls
round up used was 540Ai
paddocks older Lucerne cocksfoot paddock with. navite. grasses coming back. for the 300 and 600ml trial
1000ml older paddock mostly older native grasses. been worked and regrassed in the last 15 years

Was that a Luc and cocksfoot drilled ? Never heard of that mix

 

[som farmer]

What depth are you on?

1/2 in slot, rollers on behind each disc

 

[JD-Kid]

Was that a Luc and cocksfoot drilled ? Never heard of that mix

was roller drilled years ago
if I recall right about 8 kg per ha of Luc and 3 of cocksfoot
used to do a mix down south on last farm. Luc ,tall fescue ,plantain ,chicory , cocksfoot
there. was a mix from the 1920's or. around then. Luc,cockfoot,chicory
some trial work done in the 1950's of mixes

https://www.grassland.org.nz/publications/nzgrassland_publication_1824.pdf

my gut. feeling would be a grazing type Luc by it's self in the Luc rows and a mix of cocksfoot red clover. white clover. tall fescue .herbs in the other row might be a ok mix

 

[Bury the Trash]

was roller drilled years ago
if I recall right about 8 kg per ha of Luc and 3 of cocksfoot
used to do a mix down south on last farm. Luc ,tall fescue ,plantain ,chicory , cocksfoot
there. was a mix from the 1920's or. around then. Luc,cockfoot,chicory
some trial work done in the 1950's of mixes

https://www.grassland.org.nz/publications/nzgrassland_publication_1824.pdf

my gut. feeling would be a grazing type Luc by it's self in the Luc rows and a mix of cocksfoot red clover. white clover. tall fescue .herbs in the other row might be a ok mix

I was guessing it wouldve only been a small amount of cft in the mix
Next luc I put I'll try a bit cft in with it I think, bit of chicory as well as I put that in with everything these days .

Boy were they ahead of the game in the 20's... a let alone the 50's, must've got the lucerne idea from somewhere like Israel perhaps.

Not sure about the RC in with it , if theres rc going round the farm I would want the luc field to be a break from it and vise versa.......