Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Clearing pasture of weeds  (Read 4834 times)

egbert

  • Joined Jan 2010
Clearing pasture of weeds
« on: April 07, 2010, 03:49:52 pm »
Hi

My MIL has a field which she has the local farmer spray for her to clear various weeds, as required by DEFRA, in order to let it as pasture. The field is 10acre, however the problem she has is as local farmers get bigger and bigger tractors they will not fit through the gateposts - the entrance to the field is through brick gateposts shared with her own home drive. So she is tied to the one farmer, who may not be able to spray it much longer for various reasons.

So, just wondered what the rest of you did - especially with smaller fields -  to get rid of weeds that are poisonous to cattle etc. Surely there are other options rather than just having a local farmer spray it with monster tractors?

This is all new to me, but I am looking into it now to help her manage the land, so any suggestions would be welcome - thanks!

Fergie

  • Joined Oct 2009
Re: Clearing pasture of weeds
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2010, 04:06:57 pm »
If the field is well fenced, primitive sheep will keep it clear of weeds.

Hebridean sheep on my field have even drastically reduced the number of rushes that used to cover part of the field - there are still some, but much less than there used to be.  Other than a few rushes (where it is very wet), there are no other weeds at all.

John

Norfolk Newby

  • Joined Aug 2009
  • West Norfolk, UK
Re: Clearing pasture of weeds
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2010, 04:23:03 pm »
I have a similar problem - a 12 acre field with one end covered in poppies and the other in thistles.

I have used a backpack spray and Monsanto's Roundup to clear small areas - up to an acre. But this takes two sessions of spraying about 2 weeks apart in the Spring which makes it tedious.

As an alternative, I am using a topper (like a big rotary mower) on my little tractor to remove the seed heads before they mature. This seems to keep the quantity of weeds down a bit. The thistles are a problem as they leave very spiky stems all Winter which upsets my dogs, gets in my shoes and are generally nasty. If you cut the roots you get 2 plants instead of one! So harrowing or using a flail mower can do more harm than good.

I think the sheep make the best solution if you can keep them in the field (good fences).

NN

Novice - growing fruit, trees and weeds

gavo

  • Joined Aug 2008
  • Belcoo, Enniskillen, N.Ireland
  • Crazy Pig Lover
Re: Clearing pasture of weeds
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2010, 05:14:34 pm »
Alternatively pen some pigs on the area where the weeds are worst and completely clear it then reseed weeds wont get much chance on a good well fertilized sward. Hee Hee

egbert

  • Joined Jan 2010
Re: Clearing pasture of weeds
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2010, 11:42:25 am »
Unfortunately sheep are not an option, as we dont want our own livestock right now, but have to clear the weeds so our regular renter can use it for his cattle.


pasture eyes

  • Joined Jul 2010
Re: Clearing pasture of weeds
« Reply #5 on: July 23, 2010, 09:20:04 pm »
egbert
Try local contacts to see if you can find someone with a compact tractor/sprayer, or a quadbike/sprayer, they will use a broadleaf herbicide (as using roundup/glyphosate will kill everything it touches including the grass) and 2 seasons spraying should just about clear up the problem to a great extent.   Alternatively, get a good 2nd-hand compact tractor and topper or a pedestrian flail mower, and do it yourself, it'll have to be done about once every 6 weeks thru the spring/summer, and over 2 or 3 years that'll gradually deplete the weeds, sap their strength and slowly they'll disappear.    You can set it for a high cut so as not to cut the grass too short.   Cutting it like that will also thicken the grass which also helps to crowd out some weeds.   Good Luck        :farmer:

 

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