Re-seeding hay field, best method?

[Ali_Maxxum]

A customer of mine has asked me to re-seed their 2 main hay fields. We rarely re-seed large areas, we normally just do patches which we rotavate. However for this job I'm obviously going for ploughing. I've spoken to a couple of different people and their methods do vary quite a bit.

It's only ever going to be me travelling it so I need it to be smooth. Their main purpose is for hay making and are rarely grazed.

I was thinking method as follows; plough, flat roll, power harrow/drill, flat roll twice. However I've been told if I flat roll twice I'm at risk of capping the top making the grass struggle to push through.

I wanted to avoid using the wagtail and chain harrows if I could....

Any suggestions much appreciated. Ta!

 

[milkloss]

A customer of mine has asked me to re-seed their 2 main hay fields. We rarely re-seed large areas, we normally just do patches which we rotavate. However for this job I'm obviously going for ploughing. I've spoken to a couple of different people and their methods do vary quite a bit.

It's only ever going to be me travelling it so I need it to be smooth. Their main purpose is for hay making and are rarely grazed.

I was thinking method as follows; plough, flat roll, power harrow/drill, flat roll twice. However I've been told if I flat roll twice I'm at risk of capping the top making the grass struggle to push through.

I wanted to avoid using the wagtail and chain harrows if I could....

Any suggestions much appreciated. Ta!

You want it flat so I’d plough, roll, tine it (with some sort of levelling board), flatroll and put tines through again if not level. It wants to be level with a flat roll at every angle before going in with a power Harrow imo.

 

[PaulNix]

Why plough ? Would save a LOT of work to get it level after plus it brings problems of stones and ploughing weed seeds up if you just did as you normally would for smaller area's.

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

Why plough ? Would save a LOT of work to get it level after plus it brings problems of stones and ploughing weed seeds up if you just did as you normally would for smaller area's.

Our rotavator is only 6ft and there's 14ac to do.... it should be good for stones and its pretty good for weeds (lack of). Seen so many different ways of doing it now I'm not sure the best way to do it. I'm pricing it up as well and it's working out near £200/acre with the seed. However that's looking to vary quite a bit depending on what method I use.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Plough, power Harrow, drill, roll....the end

 

[spin cycle]

plough+press....ph/drill both ways....cambridge roll.....flat roll next spring

 

[KB6930]

If it's level already I wouldn't plough unless your going to give it a long time to settle and weather naturally no amount of rolling can make up for time and weathering

Personally I'd spray off and disc a but of tilth onto the top and level with a power harrow then drill. Some of the best takes of grass I've seen have been using this method

 

[Dry Rot]

Wouldn't soil type influence the choice of method?

 

[Campani]

why reseed? presumably, the field is underperforming. Has anybody undertaken a soil test? lime or fertiliser could be all that is required.

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

why reseed? presumably, the field is underperforming. Has anybody undertaken a soil test? lime or fertiliser could be all that is required.

They're not over whelmed with the current crop/grasses, quite old and coarse in places. They want a mix with clover of which there is virtually none. I will test the soil,

 

[deleted user 837354]

It needs to be sprayed off pronto, left to die for a week then ploughed straight away. You are potentially chancing your arm with frit fly here.

Get it level and drill with combi or grass harrow.

If any significant weed problems at the moment spray off with full rate kyleo and Li700.

 

[nick...]

Done some here last year.ploughed and rolled.combi drilled then rolled again and worked a treat
Nick...

 

[Half Pipe]

If you go down the plough route, something like an Alex Hay land leveler be good for getting smooth finish

 

[betweenthelines]

Chain harrow several times, sow grass seeds, roll once a week for a month

 

[Mc115reed]

Why are people obsessed with flat rolling a million times???

If you can’t plough level no amount of flat rolling will ever level it out... spray it off, plough, power Harrow, drill, flat roll, close the gate

 

[1594mac]

Same boat here ref reseed, there is probably 4 inches grass on it was going to get it sprayed off then flail it if required before ploughing old grass down its a thick mat which wont help. does that sound ok?

 

[Greythundercloudys]

Not brain surgery, plough, powerharrow, fertilzer, then sow seed and roll. I sometime powerharrow twice.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Spray discs. Stubble turnip. Then disc in the spring when seed bed is clean

 

[7610 super q]

Plough, harrow, sow seed with a fiddle, wearing tennis rackets strapped to your feet.

 

[Goweresque]

Run sheep on it each winter, improves the grass no end, you may even get clover appearing naturally, and someone might even pay a few pennies for the sheep to be there. My hay fields are entirely natural 'weed' type grasses, the sward has improved in leaps and bounds since having sheep over the winter and yields are up too.

If they really have to have some clover sown the easiest way would be to run sheep late into April, get them to really tread it down so its quite muddy, spin the seed on, harrow, job done.