The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: kate7590 on December 19, 2014, 09:27:10 pm
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Part of one of our fields has a fair bit of bracken in it. Of course at the moment its dead/ flat, but I know it will spring back in spring!
We want to put our sheep on it next year and have friends who say its fine, but me being a bit of a worrier wants to find out a good way of getting rid of it so I can rest easy knowing I won't hurt my sheep by letting them on that land.
We have a quad bike so could maybe look into some machine that could be used with it? Although its on quite steep land so could be dangerous if its big machinery…..
Any words of wisdom?
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It won't hurt your sheep. Look at moorland everywhere with sheep grazing on it.
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the sheep won't eat the bracken so don't worry about them. I'm told bracken used to be harvested for livestock bedding.
You could get/make a bracken roller for your quad (am planning on making one myself for next year - basically a roller with ridges to crush the stems) although I'm not entirely sold on their effectiveness yet, almost anything that knocks the bracken down should help.
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Yes braken was used as animal beding, saw it used in cumbria a few years ago. Braken when harvested for compost makes a great alternative to peat, maybe you have a cash crop.
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Bracken is now known to be carcinogenic so I don't think I'd be in a rush to use it for bedding. Do some googling (and report back what you find out, please! :D) because my recollection is that there's one time of year when it's at its most dangerous, which I think is when it is carrying spores. Whether it is less or even not carcinogenic after it's died back naturally I am not sure.
Yes sheep graze in amongst bracken in many places - because they have no choice! Bracken harbours ticks, so if you have sheep in contact with bracken, you need to be de-ticking your sheep.
If the bracken that you have is removable then personally I would try to get it removed now, because if you leave it, it will just become more and more established and harder and harder to remove.
Again, do some googling (and report back please :D), but I'm pretty sure it's one of those plants that needs to be damaged in order to die; just cutting it won't kill it off as it is so very deep-rooted. So bracken-mashing devices don't break the stems completely, just ravage them. It'll take several / many seasons to get it killed off. I think I read that there's a poison that'll do for it (but I think takes several applications.) Whether the take-up of the poison would be best after mashing and/or at some particular stage of growth I can't recall.
Sorry this is mostly hearsay / recollected readings so don't take any of it as fact! (Except the bits about ticks and about it becoming more established if not dealt with; those are from personal experience.)
Oh, and the other approach to bracken control is to reintroduce dinosaurs, I think? :D :-J
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There is only 1 chemical that is properly effective against bracken (Asulam). Unfortunately farmers were using it (contrary to its approvals) on horticultural crops resulting in a very nasty chemical getting into the human food chain. As a result the EU understandibly banned it however it is still available for a limited period each year.
More information here http://www.brackencontrol.co.uk/ (http://www.brackencontrol.co.uk/)
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I read about bracken crishers and started looking to make one .but further reading suggests that cutting is just as (probbaly more) effective as crushing - its all a matter of timing and access. Since I have the topper and hire of a brave driver happy to do the hillsides we'll be topping just as they start to uncurl and then twice more during the season.
I've been practicing my welding so may knock up a crusher for the quadbike on the really dodgy slope.
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Here is some literature on the subject!
http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/advisorynotes/24/24.htm (http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/advisorynotes/24/24.htm)
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Whilst it would seem logical that cutting would be better than crushing I was told by a large fern grower/producer that simply bending each stem/frond until it irreversibly kinks will weaken and kill the plant more quickly than cutting. Apparantly proven by the number of plants which die due to wind damage when kinked stems are left rather than being cut back.
On this basis repeated heavy rolling would be the way forward.
Regen
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If you don't have a roller or mower just run over it regularly with your quad wheels- as often as you see sufficient growth for it to be worth while. And if you don't have time to do it all, focus on the outer edges first to stop it spreading any further.
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Whilst it would seem logical that cutting would be better than crushing I was told by a large fern grower/producer that simply bending each stem/frond until it irreversibly kinks will weaken and kill the plant more quickly than cutting. Apparantly proven by the number of plants which die due to wind damage when kinked stems are left rather than being cut back.
On this basis repeated heavy rolling would be the way forward.
Regen
That was/is the general commentary seen but I did delve into assorted literature via google..I can't remember prof whoever's name who has been doing the research at liverpool uni?.. his papers suggest spraying is best (when it was legal) and cutting or crushing are much the same. It's more to do with repetitiion 2-3 times a year to prevent further spread.. more still for several years to get rid of established stuff.
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The national parks crush it up here with a crusher machine - I just run over it year after year with the quad - I know it takes a long time, but doing a ring of the field everyday to check sheep and fences - you'll be surprised how easy it crush a few acres in a month.
I also find inviting friends round with a few beers and lumping them on a quad on a friday evening does wonders for crushing. Think it takes about 5 years to get it to start shrinking. - Ours has been done now for 6 and its starting to receed.
Its all about doing it at the right time appaently - you dont want to snap the stem - you want to bend it so there is no real growth but the plant still tries to put all its energy into repairing something that irrepairable and it weakens its root structure cos it cant grow on top.
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Look in the rhododendron thread by young rasher 24 Dec 2014
In the link about removing the plants .. I think there is something about putting pigs on bracken for complete removal of it in a year or so.
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Pigs are good but wild boar are even better at it - Trees for Life ran a trial a few years back and they completely removed the bracken in their area in a couple of years. They actually eat the roots. However the fencing needed to contain them mean it's a fairly specialised undertaking. They produce excellent meat for sausage making after they have finished their work.
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Bracken is at its most poisonous in spring when the young fronds come up. That is also the time when, apparently, they are most attractive to stock, but fortunately there's also likely to be plenty of grass available, which will be eaten in preference. As mentioned, bracken is carcinogenic, but normally only eaten in dangerous amounts if there's no alternative, ie all the grass around has been eaten right down.
We recently purchased 9 acres of bracken land. We considered spraying with Asulox but it's very expensive. Roundup is also effective but needs doing tortuously by hand, or with a weed wiper unless you want to kill all the grass as well and then reseed, which again is expensive and you've lost the grazing till the new seeds get established.
So the first year we grazed the grass with sheep and took them off before they started on the bracken, then we cut the bracken and baled it in round bales which we removed. It rots down to make excellent compost. After that we wintered cattle on it and their trampling knocked it back a lot, so that by the following spring it was greatly reduced. Spreading manure on it also prevents regrowth, as does rolling and driving on it.
We're now on our 4th year and it's very sparce. We've certainly never had it thick enough again to make it worth cutting and carting off, and we've got away without needing to spray. I think the single biggest factor is putting the cattle on and their trampling action.
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pigs :pig:
we have loads of the damn stuff, not handy when you have goats but doesnt bother the sheep at all. We put pigs on our worst areas and moved them around. there is still a bit of bracken coming through but nowhere near as much as was there originally!
oh and we got the eat the pigs...win win :thumbsup:
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pigs :pig:
we have loads of the damn stuff, not handy when you have goats but doesnt bother the sheep at all. We put pigs on our worst areas and moved them around. there is still a bit of bracken coming through but nowhere near as much as was there originally!
oh and we got the eat the pigs...win win :thumbsup:
Here is a question, once the animal has been fattened on the bracken, and is slaughtered, is the meat safe to eat?
I was told that bracken causes cancer, does it apply to the meat of that animal or not?
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Most things these days will give you cancer supposedly ::)
Various pieces of research seems to have been done on the subject but no clear advice as far as I can see?
But then I smoke, drink alcohol, drink raw milk, eat butter and red meat oh and drive a car so its just one more thing to add to the list if its proved right >:(
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pigs :pig:
we have loads of the damn stuff, not handy when you have goats but doesnt bother the sheep at all. We put pigs on our worst areas and moved them around. there is still a bit of bracken coming through but nowhere near as much as was there originally!
oh and we got the eat the pigs...win win :thumbsup:
Here is a question, once the animal has been fattened on the bracken, and is slaughtered, is the meat safe to eat?
I was told that bracken causes cancer, does it apply to the meat of that animal or not?
As I'm planning on using pigs too, I've been looking into this a bit: I did find one article that recommended the pigs be fed a bracken-free diet for at least 15days before slaughter to remove any of the carcinogen from the pigs system (can't find the reference now, sorry), but the truth is there's not really been any research into whether the meat is contaminated or not (as far as I know).
As a general rule though (at the risk of stating the obvious) the pigs should have access to feed other than bracken anyway or they will become ill. It's not clear if the bracken-clearing effect of pigs is from them eating the stuff or more their rooting exposing the rhizomes to frost, etc.
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The part link I gave earlier on in the thread suggests it is from the pigs eating the rhizomes thus stopping further growth .
Though their rooting & foot work will also prevent the spores from becoming viable plants.
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I have heard that crushing the tops of the bracken, as mentioned earlier, does work, however it has to be done 3 times for 2 years, whether its three times a year am not sure, after that they'll be weakened then you can plow it.
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If you're planning on ploughing, and therefore reseeding, you might as well spray with glyphosate in your first year and kill it straight off without having to mess about with it for a few years and ploughing it in the end anyway.
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I took over 2 acre field 3 years ago,third of the ground had strong healthy bracken on it,so i have strimmed trod and pulled the bracken and at the end of last summer it had gone very weak and patchy,so fingers crossed i wont see much this year.But i now have reeds growing in the 30m x 10m plot i keep pigs in every other year,do you know how to get rid of this?
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They reckon bacon etc causes cancer anyway waterbuff so I wouldn't worry! Is life without bacon life at all?