Old Meadow.

[Vizslaman]

As posted elsewhere I bought a 12.5 Acre Paddock 3 years agoand have just sold the standing grass for hay once a year.
The grass is of mediocre quality and I have thought about ploughing it up and reseeding to improve the quality and to improve the drainage.

I think I read somewhere that if a meadow has not been ploughed for 25 years there are restrictions on ploughing

Any help gratefully received

 

[milkloss]

This one might be relevant

https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index...0-year-old-grass-let-out.276914/#post-6069088

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I would not bother ploughing the other ways are better. If you want to paint your house you dont replaster it when the plaster is fine . Ploughing does 3 bad things at least . It buries the goodness that's in the top . It brings up weed seeds and brings up stones . Makes the ground to spungey.

 

[Lazy Sod]

Is it not the case that any restrictions that apply to ploughing old pasture are only rules applying to BSP etc. We don't know if the OP is taking the subsidy or not.

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

Would probably do some bog standard maintenance on it first before going gun ho with a plough and totally re-seeding it. Give it a damn good scratch over with some harrows and maybe over-seed it. Then a good roll or go over it with a sub soiler maybe?

Lime?

What else are you doing with it other than selling it as standing grass?

 

[ollie989898]

Reseeding is gonna cost at least £100/acre.

 

[nick...]

Perfect case for the direct drilling boys.
Nick...

 

[ollie989898]

You can plough anything provided you can demonstrate it is improved basically.

I doubt very much it is traditional permenant pasture.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Reseeding is gonna cost at least £100/acre.

cost me £20 for seed and £8 for roundup and a bit of scratching and rolling

 

[Vizslaman]

Thanks

No not claiming any subsidy.
I will give it a session with the old zig zag harrows this year and take it from there.

 

[ollie989898]

Thanks

No not claiming any subsidy.
I will give it a session with the old zig zag harrows this year and take it from there.

If you are carrying out harrowing, topping or fertilising then by definition it is no longer permenant pasture, you have improved it.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Thanks

No not claiming any subsidy.
I will give it a session with the old zig zag harrows this year and take it from there.

What is a zig zag harrow going to do .dont get taken in by farming traditions

 

[Exfarmer]

If this is old grass that has not been ploughed for a very long timethe best you can do is spray it off with Roundup, wait for a thorough kill and plough . Probably best done after you have taken a late cut of hay.
This way you will have buried most of the weed and grass seed well out of the way. You will not be ploughing up fresh seed as none will be down there, at least none viable.
Even better to take a crop of barley or spring wheat and undersow the grass. You will probably get this done by a neighbour for next to nothing then, if they take the crop

 

[organicguy]

How is it that several threads on here are advocating mixed species swards (herbal leys by the modern name) and the next thread says spray off with round up and plant a monoculture?

 

[Exfarmer]

How is it that several threads on here are advocating mixed species swards (herbal leys by the modern name) and the next thread says spray off with round up and plant a monoculture?

Absolutely no need to establish a monoculture, we have a resident seedsman on this forum who was trying to sell me wildflower mix last week. I opted for a clover enhanced grass as I wanted to keep the grass fairly short
@Great In Grass

 

[Exfarmer]

cost me £20 for seed and £8 for roundup and a bit of scratching and rolling

The trouble with this approach, is that the field will already have a very heavy seed burden from the existing grass. This will quickly come to dominate the new ley. I would plough them down.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

If you decide to reseed you will need to correct the pH and ensure nutrients are at the correct levels before you start, otherwise new seeds are unlikely to establish well or thrive.

If you have done nothing but mow and take grass off it will likely be low in potash. If it’s a clay it could well be low in phosphate.

But you could address all these things first and see if that improves the grass you already have. There is no sense in reseeding a field that’s short of any nutrients and no sense in trying to grow old grass with the same problem.

You might just find that putting the soil nutrient status right will gain you a huge yield advantage without the expense of a full reseed.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

The trouble with this approach, is that the field will already have a very heavy seed burden from the existing grass. This will quickly come to dominate the new ley. I would plough them down.

I spray twice with a 6 week gap . This is how I get rid of rushes as well

 

[multi power]

I'd imagine a good hard grazing with sheep would go a long way to improving it

 

[Danllan]

If this is old grass that has not been ploughed for a very long timethe best you can do is spray it off with Roundup, wait for a thorough kill and plough...

Hang on! We don't know how old the grass is, it could be a perfectly good 'natural' mix rather than anything deliberately planted. To kill it off without giving it a good chance is crazy; put some sheep across it, some FYM wouldn't hurt. Put the sheep on the aftermath once the hay has gone, when they have done their best spread the FYM.

Edit: don't harrow before the sheep (and always read a post after typing it quickly... )