Subsoil and plough after grass

focussed

Member
Got a grass ley that's been in for 3yr. Lot of BG amongst the rye grass and will have been lots of seed return despite topping. Want to get it into wheat.

Spraying off tomorrow, and want to eventually create a nice firm stale seedbed.

Will unfortunately need to plough to bury the rubbish and ground is like concrete. Should I subsoil it first to help the plough go through and also break the pan?

After plough I was thinking disc it.
 

Chae1

Member
Location
Aberdeenshire
I would try plough first and if it works I wouldn't bother with subsoiler. Even just subsoil a scratch round headland to get plough into ground if it's hard.

We ploughed up a fair bit of long term ley in spring and subsoiled first. Plough wouldn't bury sod and in one field it came up in lumps. We don't have heavy land.

Have seen it suggested on here to subsoil after ploughing....
 

General-Lee

Member
Location
Devon
I would try plough first and if it works I wouldn't bother with subsoiler. Even just subsoil a scratch round headland to get plough into ground if it's hard.

We ploughed up a fair bit of long term ley in spring and subsoiled first. Plough wouldn't bury sod and in one field it came up in lumps. We don't have heavy land.

Have seen it suggested on here to subsoil after ploughing....
Always been worried pre subsoiling grass leys for that reason!

Lot round here subsoil after ploughing for maize prep although that's into wheat stubble so less of a problem.
 

focussed

Member
Not being funny, but that's exactly what is likely to happen.
Roundup and let it get wetter before doing anything.

Your not being funny, that's exactly what I thought......

And now my question of subsoiling first has unanimously been a NO I guess that's my only option!

So spray off and wait for it to be wetter.
 

JCfarmer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
warks
Plough it first if possible nice and steady so you keep an eye on depth. Should bury trash better. Subsoil after with low disturbance legs at a steady pace. Great in an ideal world I know. Anyone with a grassland subsoiler near you to hire?
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Thanks for the feedback. My concern is if it ploughs like hell I'll just mix the BG all through and be knackered!
pity it was let go to seed in those 3 yrs.......constant tight grazing was the plan .....:unsure:

could also have been ploughed awhile ago in moister soil conditions and then had a couple of stale seed beds .......


:bag:
 

focussed

Member
pity it was let go to seed in those 3 yrs.......constant tight grazing was the plan .....:unsure:

could also have been ploughed awhile ago in moister soil conditions and then had a couple of stale seed beds .......


:bag:

In my experience no matter how hard its grazed it will still come to head and then the more it's topped the shorter it is when it comes to head.

The field has only just finished being used for ewes and lambs.
 

focussed

Member
forgive me, but why would you want to bust up grass to drill wheat if you know you have a bad blackgrass problem?

Grass does not cure BG unless it's silaged to ensure no seed return. Ours wasn't, it was grazed and topped.

The nematadirus worm burden in the field is the highest on the farm and it showed the worst liveweight gain and had to worm the lambs a lot more regularly.

Plus I don't need all the grass at the moment.

I am not 100% going for wheat, what I am trying to do is aim for wheat.
 

Case290

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Worcestershire
ive got a grass field going into wheat the same as you but been grass 5yrs black grass gone I hope now. Fixed some land drains . But will break my plough at the mo it's so dry going for spray early / mid sept , end oct plough . Culti press x2 combi drill 420-450 seeds sq/m if it don't work out spring barley. 390-400 seeds.
 

Stuart1

Member
Is it possible to plough grassland at 4-5 inches? Sorry if it’s a silly question, Im a silly dairy farmer that knows little about ploughing.
 
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