Rejuvenating permanent pasture, ridge and furrow

[Ocm-1994]

What are peoples preferred methods of rejuvenating old grass swards for sheep/cattle.

A lot of our ground we run sheep on is ridge and furrow and not sure where we stand on full re seed options. Have toyed with the idea of direct drilling etc, just wondered how other people get on without the existing sward smothering new seeds without glyphosating. We run a 4m Vaderstad rapid on the arable side but can't imagine it riding the ridge and furrows without damaging drill and making a job on the uneven ground.

Have applied lime to bump ph up as it was extremely low. Usually spread a 20/10/10 NPK and grass responds reasonably well, but growth rates in spring lambs are always lower than our better ground, as well as ewes significantly leaner. I know these swards have grown grass for 100s of years! Feeding not really an option as looking for a long term improvement. We run a range of NCM/ cheviot mules / some texel X .

Thanks again look forward to people's views

 

[foxbox]

We've struggled with overseeding on ours; spring usually results in the ridges drying off too quickly and killing the new seeds whilst summer has been very unreliable in the last few years. The biggest effect we've had has been rotational grazing; the ryegrass that was present in the sward has responded really well to it and it's amazing what a difference it's made. We're grazing ours with cattle though so not sure if it'd be the same with sheep.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I would roundup and disk it .
Main thing is you choose the right seed .avoid early heading grass

 

[foxbox]

How steep are the ridge and furrow @Ocm-1994 ? FT's suggestion would work on the shallower stuff, not round here though unfortunately.

 

[DrWazzock]

Years ago Dad used a one way plough to plough all the ridges down into the furrows. Level fields now.

We find lamb growth is limited by build up of parasites as much as sward degradation. If you can get it in with any sort of break crop for a couple of years then reseed then it makes a huge difference. Seems to reset the parasite levels.

Not very helpful advice if you can't break crop it.

 

[tinsheet]

Mob graze, plenty of dung, lime if required, plenty of rest!.
Certainly working here!.

 

[neilo]

Is this ‘protected’ R&F? If not, get a big 360 in for a week, scrape the topsoil off, level the subsoil, then level the topsoil back. Not the cheapest method of levelling, but any other method leaves you with strips that will show up for ever more.
Then put the land into your arable rotation, having increased the capital value substantially.

You will struggle to improve the grass on R&F through reseeding (even with spraying it off), although rotational grazing will certainly encourage any better species that might be there.

 

[Ocm-1994]

Is this ‘protected’ R&F? If not, get a big 360 in for a week, scrape the topsoil off, level the subsoil, then level the topsoil back. Not the cheapest method of levelling, but any other method leaves you with strips that will show up for ever more.
Then put the land into your arable rotation, having increased the capital value substantially.

You will struggle to improve the grass on R&F through reseeding (even with spraying it off), although rotational grazing will certainly encourage any better species that might be there.

Thanks your replies guys. The ground is rented ground of a estate and I seem to think it is part of a SSI area (site is of scientific interest) or some shite, so I really need to look into that as not 100% certain. I alternate between fields often mob grazed over a few weeks then few weeks rest and back in again. Will look into what I can and can't do and look down the glyphosate route with a set of discs before spinning seed on and rolling maybe.

 

[Ocm-1994]

How steep are the ridge and furrow @Ocm-1994 ? FT's suggestion would work on the shallower stuff, not round here though unfortunately.

Fairly steep in parts but not so bad in others. Hard to put a measurement on them, il get a few photos in the next few days [emoji106]

 

[Northeastfarmer]

We have quite a few fields that are rig and fur....I love seeing them as they are

 

[DrWazzock]

I'm glad dad got rid of ours before natural England came on the scene. They were man made. Not natural. Earth heaped up. Easy to plough back into hollows. No problem exposing subsoil as in effect you are just putting the topsoil back to where it should be. Underdrainage negated the need for the ridges to speed the drying and warming of the soil.

A nightmare with Haymaking kit wider than 4 foot.

 

[Ocm-1994]

We have quite a few fields that are rig and fur....I love seeing them as they are

Where abouts in the north east are you based northeastfarmer? It's not I don't love seeing them it's that I want to improve them [emoji108]

 

[tr250]

I personally can’t see anything working too well. Mixed grazing and rotating sheep and cattle and resting and a good grazing over winter will do as good as anything.

 

[AvonValleyFarmer]

All my grazing ground is ridge and furrow @Ocm-1994, I've had the most success rotational grazing.

Had moderate results broadcasting seed.

Can't find anyone daft enough to try drilling it

 

[Princess Pooper]

Is this ‘protected’ R&F? If not, get a big 360 in for a week, scrape the topsoil off, level the subsoil, then level the topsoil back. .

Noooooo

 

[Princess Pooper]

We have lots of ridge and furrow. Rotational grazing good and you can introduce some clover into it through feeding. Liming will have helped.

 

[Princess Pooper]

I'm glad dad got rid of ours before natural England came on the scene. They were man made. Not natural.

No one has ever claimed it is natural. They are part of our history.

 

[Princess Pooper]

I would ...... disk it .

 

[neilo]

Noooooo

Soon after we took this place, the landlord’s agent was telling me how one patch of the parkland was supposed to be some of the oldest R&F in the country. Although never cultivated, the previous tenant had ring feeders dotted about on it feeding cattle every winter, so it’s fairly level. I would describe it as ‘slightly undulating’ now, to the extent that I can run a 4.6m topper over it in any direction without scalping anything. As old parkland, it’s a patch that wouldn’t really have hurt if it was still R&F, but that feature is long gone now.

As a farmer, R&F is a hindrance, particularly where there is a rent that has to be paid, and a landlord that expects it to pay as much as productive land.

 

[4course]

ridge and furrow was, according to my college lecturer years ago, originally created to solve the problem of too much rain or too much drought, ie the hollows were wet and the tops were drier thus what ever the season you could keep grass growing. thus the major problem is without putting a drainage scheme on what is in most cases heavier land you could end up in worse situation , levelling is the easy bit