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Author Topic: Step by step guide to imporve my pasture needed please  (Read 3808 times)

porkandapples

  • Joined Feb 2011
Step by step guide to imporve my pasture needed please
« on: March 30, 2011, 04:56:23 pm »
I have 3 ponies on about 3 rented acres at the moment. I am hoping to also keep a few weaners at a time on this space. I would like to rotate them around the field to help improve the state of it. However in the meantime the field is in dire need of help. I have, in complete ignorance completely neglected it for the past 5 or so years. I usually divide it in two, strip graze on half over the summer months and have them on the other half in the winter. They are out 24/7. There are areas overgrown with dock and nettles, some buttercups and some ragwort which we pull by hand and burn. Over the last couple of years the grass regrowth in the spring has been noticably poorer. Taking the horses off of the field is not an option and we will need to seed/fertilise etc by hand.

This year i plan to split the field into three almost acres. I will then split the acre they are on into 3 and rotate them over the summer months within this.

I'd really appreciate advice on what i need to do next to improve the quality of the pasture. I'm prepared to work hard to make this land work hard for us but need to get it right.

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Step by step guide to imporve my pasture needed please
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2011, 08:38:43 pm »
What's the drainage like? Have you had the soil tested for pH, phosphate, potassium and micronutrients? Grass needs a neutral pH to grow well. Is there clover in the sward? Docks and nettles would indicate high nitrogen, buttercups indicate poor drainage. Constant hoof traffic can compact the soil, and if there is clay, this can lead to poor drainage. Do you lift dung? If so, you are removing nutrients from the soil particularly phosphates and potassium.

Ideal grazing for ponies is not the same as ideal grazing for sheep or cattle - high yielding ryegrass / clover swards are great for sheep and cattle but very bad for ponies. We've decided to manage the grass for the sheep and cattle and basically keep the ponies on a track and feed more hay. It's all a compromise.

porkandapples

  • Joined Feb 2011
Re: Step by step guide to imporve my pasture needed please
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2011, 07:37:40 pm »
The drainage in one half of the field is quite poor. Haven't had soil tested will put that top of the to do list. There is clover in part of the field but not everywhere. I do poo pick the field regularly as part or our parasite control.

So soil test, treat as needed and overseed with approprite seed for horse pasture in each third of the field as it is rested??

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Step by step guide to imporve my pasture needed please
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2011, 09:16:08 pm »
I'm not really clear what you're going to do. Divide the 3 acres into three; Year 1, keep the three ponies on one acre, say Acre 1,  over summer then what if they have to be out all year 24/7. Acre 2 keep weaners? Acre 3? then Year 2 pigs in Acre 1, ponies in Acre 3, and whatever was in Acre 3 in Year 1 on to Acre 2, where the pigs were? Just trying to get a picture of your plan  :)

If you are currently not grazing or cutting an area all summer, the grass will be seeding and the dead grass will be building up thatch. You should harrow to remove dead grass, moss etc in spring at least. Like using a lawn rake, it gets all the dead grass out and allows light and air into the roots of the coming grass. Rolling may or may not be necessary - I'm relying on the livestock to "roll" the land.

Grazing or cutting before seeding improves pasture. Grazing and cutting encourages the grass to tiller, which is vegetative reproduction, rather than seeding, leading to a denser and more resilient sward. Sheep are very good for improving grazing - their hooves also act as rollers, keeping the soil in contact with the roots and of course, the dung provides fertiliser in small packages.

You may be able to get seed mixes suitable for wetter land - it will need to be robust to stand up to the inevitable poaching if stock are going to be on the land in the wetter months.Clover in the seed mix will add nitrogen - use small leafed native clovers, not large leafed white clover or red clover.

Weaners will not improve the grass - they will destroy it. If you want to have permanent pasture suitable for ponies, then you don't really want to plough and reseed every couple of years, which is effectively what the pigs will do, or the grass will never get a chance to properly establish.

Does this help or just make it worse?

porkandapples

  • Joined Feb 2011
Re: Step by step guide to imporve my pasture needed please
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2011, 10:07:16 pm »
Thank-you, very helpful yes!! Thanks for taking the time to respond so helpfully!

So taking into account all you have said and after a little more reading, the new plan is....

Section of half an acre to be used for weaners.
Remaining 2.5 ish acres split in two.
Soil tested.
Whole field sprayed to kill off weeds.
Half field used for ponies over the summer.
The other half over seeded and fertilised according to soil test results, then cut regularly throughout the summer to prevent it getting too long and encourage thicker, better quality grass. This will then be ready by late autumn for winter grazing.
The summers grazing will then be fertilised and overseeded when the ponies come off it for the autumn and left until spring when the ponies will be back on there.

Does that make more sense?

Thanks again for your help :)

 

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