The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: Young Ed on July 05, 2014, 10:02:22 pm
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ok so imagine i am one of the f'ing townies and can't understand why there are pictures of cows on my milk bottles!
basically i have a field of probably 2 or maybe 2.5 acres with what i think is possibly yorkshire fog grass, now i am led to believe yorkshire fog isn't particularly impressive for grazing according to eblex? i would like to improve this for grazing sheep, how would i go about this considering i want to leave current grass there and just add to it with red clover and maybe some other variety of grass?
would it need harrowing?cultivating? how would i spread the grass seed? by hand or some machine?
Cheers Ed
P.S: we have a tractor if it is any help?
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We had a similar problem in a two and a bit acre paddock. We had spoken with a grassland advisor when we saw his stall at the Highland show - probably wouldn't bother with such small fry as us if there'd been any of the big boys asking questions ::)
He came up with a species rich seed mix, suitable for our primitive sheep (which don't need really rich grazing) which was heavy on white clover and had a variety of better grasses in it. This we sprinkled by hand in spring - just took a few hours with two of us. Thinking back, I think we raked it with a tractor towed rake first, which removed the thatch and created some bald bits, plus opened up some scratch marks the seed could fall into. you could use a disc harrow too. We did it just before it rained, so the seed could be washed into the bare bits, then rolled it.
For the first year we couldn't see any improvement, but the following year other grasses sprang up and plenty of clover. Because of the carefully chosen seed mix, our wildflowers still come back, and we have even had orchids.
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We had a similar problem in a two and a bit acre paddock. We had spoken with a grassland advisor when we saw his stall at the Highland show - probably wouldn't bother with such small fry as us if there'd been any of the big boys asking questions ::)
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I am a grassland advisor and while I wouldn't usually stop to deal with anyone with less than a1000 acres I'm prepared to make an exception seeing as its TAS :roflanim:
fleecewife is right. key is creating patches of earth in which seed can stand a chance of germinating and establishing, By hand a bloody good raking or by tractor a chain harrow with spikes should create a tilth. after sowing (and I would similarly do an area of that size by hand) it is crucial to ensure good soil to seed contact either by rolling or by turning stock out immediately after. Yorkshire fog like many of the weed grasses ( creeping bent, annual meadow grass etc) has little of nutritional value. the added problem is that Yorkshire fog is quite hairy and consequently tastes pretty unpleasant and will only be eaten if there's nothing else and even then only at a push
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thanks all, great to have an expert on hand!
i am well toooooo lazy and would have to chain harrow that field rather than hand rake it! to idea is to chain harrow, seed, roll?
Cheers Ed
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Planning to do exactly the same to one of our fields .... but what grass mix for hill land in Wales... about 700ft ?
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Optimum temp of 7 deg for germination so prob best to do it in summer.grasses such as fescues, cocksfoot and smooth stalked meadow grass are generally deeper rooted and more able to cope with extremes of weather. Whilst not in the same league nutritionally as rye grasses they are more suited to your conditions. There is also the option of adding some herbs such as rib grass, sheep's parsley yarrow and salad burnet to aid palatability and variety.
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Thank you DL ... very helpful . Much appeciated
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if you are using livestock feet to push the seeds into the ground - at what point do you remove the livestock in this scenario?
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what you don't want is stock in there as the grass is appearing. in certain conditions this could be as little as seven days though I've never had any appear this quickly. we tend to leave ours in for 10 days hoping that this is long enough for them to tread it in but not so long as to risk delicate new shoots.
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any one used these? do they seem reasonably priced?
http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/ (http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/)
interested in some of there mixes such as these
http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/agricultural-grass/long-term-grazing.html/ (http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/agricultural-grass/long-term-grazing.html/)
and this one in particular
http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/agricultural-grass/long-term-grazing/permanent-grassland.html (http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/agricultural-grass/long-term-grazing/permanent-grassland.html)
maybe adding some of one of their clover mixes
http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/agricultural-grass/white-clover/mixed-red-white-clover.html (http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/agricultural-grass/white-clover/mixed-red-white-clover.html)
Cheers Ed
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farmers round here use a local seed merchant, as opposed to mail order. that way it saves on postage (although you have petrol costs etc) and get the seeds that do well in your area. is there one near you? they usually mix it up for you if you say what you want it for and how many acres etc.
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prices and varieties seem about right but don't know supplier so cant comment. agree with shygirl would pay to check locally and make sure you get something that does well in your area