Rushes….. what to do?

[primmiemoo]

Biomass

Haven't tried burning for fuel, but it's a good bedding which drains ~ surprisingly good for store cattle. Or else interleaving layers with straw for lambing pens (leave top layer straw). All rots down to good muck to spread.

 

[primmiemoo]

Will that not spread all the seeds around the rest of the farm?

Not when properly rotted fym. Sheet the heap to make it work best.

 

[Kevtherev]

@Sid

 

[Sid]

@Sid View attachment 1027839

WAS sold by all good agricultural merchants..........

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Biomass

I wondering about this last year. I had cut a thick patch of rushes, only about 1.5 acres and when the weather stayed good for a couple of weeks I thought I'd bale them up.
Expected to do it in an hour but the number of bales was astonishing.
If they have the right properties for burning, it would surely take some beating?

 

[Still Farming]

I wondering about this last year. I had cut a thick patch of rushes, only about 1.5 acres and when the weather stayed good for a couple of weeks I thought I'd bale them up.
Expected to do it in an hour but the number of bales was astonishing.
If they have the right properties for burning, it would surely take some beating?

The very old lighting in caves and then houses were rush lamps.

 

[Kevtherev]

The rush candles were dipped in pig fat so I’m told.
Also little houses had rush roofs.
Rushes and bracken also a popular choice for bedding going back few years.

 

[Macsky]

Will that not spread all the seeds around the rest of the farm?

The seeds are likely everywhere already, just get a hold when conditions allow.

 

[JET]

MCPA and you will cover a lot of ground with a boom sprayer

weed wipers are slow and miss the smaller ones

MCPA also kills a lot of other weeds

 

[Macsky]

I was asked to spread lime on a rushy field that had been taken on by a neighbour, it wasn’t a wet field, had just been neglected. The lime went on heavy and then I topped it to the boards with a flail topper and amazingly the rushes haven’t reappeared, this was two years ago now. It may have had a covering of very well rotted muck, compost really, not sure tho.

They're opportunistic blighters, but not impossible to get rid of if you try and swing conditions towards grass growth, drainage,ph, fertility, management etc., they don’t usually cover a field overnight, takes time, but if things are in their favour they’ll take advantage.

 

[ImLost]

Haven't tried burning for fuel, but it's a good bedding which drains ~ surprisingly good for store cattle. Or else interleaving layers with straw for lambing pens (leave top layer straw). All rots down to good muck to spread.

Probably a stupid question, but once you have cut them, how long would you leave them before baling?

 

[JET]

Probably a stupid question, but once you have cut them, how long would you leave them before baling?

Try and make it as dry as possible!

I use it as bedding and have done for years! straw looks nicer but i think the rushes keep the cattle cleaner for longer
Chop it going into the bale and with the straw chopper and it rots quicker.

I tend to spread it the same year

 

[hally]

MCPA and you will cover a lot of ground with a boom sprayer

weed wipers are slow and miss the smaller ones

MCPA also kills a lot of other weeds

We sold our weed wiper, no where near as good a kill as with a boom sprayer here . Only advantage of a wiper is low herbicides use and clover protection.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Will that not spread all the seeds around the rest of the farm?

Yes I've had them growing on dry silage fields that have been mucked

 

[Universe]

We sold our weed wiper, no where near as good a kill as with a boom sprayer here . Only advantage of a wiper is low herbicides use and clover protection.

So a large cost saving then?

 

[steveR]

Weed wiping with bike and roundup works well but time consuming job.

Depends on how big your tool is Kev.......

 

[hally]

So a large cost saving then?

In spray yes in time no

 

[steveR]

Rushes getting worse , I know drainage is the real answer but not possible at the moment.
Weed wiper ? Spot spray? What works best and when ?

thanks

I am weed wiping the buggers in the solar farm here, started last year and it is a transformation! Will go through in May again to clear up those missed or underdosed with Roundup last Summer.

Have been asked if I want more work doing the same on other solar sites, but I have declined...

 

[steveR]

In spray yes in time no

6m boom and it'll cover a fair area I found without me getting too bored!

 

[primmiemoo]

Probably a stupid question, but once you have cut them, how long would you leave them before baling?

Try and make it as dry as possible!

I use it as bedding and have done for years! straw looks nicer but i think the rushes keep the cattle cleaner for longer
Chop it going into the bale and with the straw chopper and it rots quicker.

I tend to spread it the same year

This , although we don't chop, either to bale or bed up. If it isn't dry, it turns musty/dusty like poor hay. It's interesting to see stock pick out trefoils and other dry herbage that's sometimes baled in with it. Prīckles from thistles are a nuisance when strewing by hand, but dry stems get eaten.