Reclaiming Neglected Land .. HELP !

MartyF

Hi, Ive recently inherited 60 acres of badly neglected farm land. Currently it looks like bog - covered in sphagnum moss, morr grass, heather & rushes -but underneath is limestone.

The land is on a gentle slope and is not water logged but will require some drainage. The boundary drains are open but over grown and need clearing.

I intend to put horses & ponies on the land when Im finnished.

Im not a farmer so if anyone can give me some advice on the best way to tackle the job and a rough price for a contractor to do the whole job I'd really apreciate it

ravima

talk to some local chap/neighbour/ag contractor, who should be able to put you in touch with someone with a hymac machine to open/clean the old drains. Once that's done, you can consider re seeding

gally74

be careful,

get some soil samples taken first, have you looked into the potential of the land,

you might want to consider forestry, you could end up spending a lot on it,


how long since cattle were on it?

MartyF

Thanks Lads, There hasn't been cattle on it for 20 years. There's sheep on it at the moment. Yea I wanted to post here before approaching a contractor / neighbor etc.

Is it very expensive to reclaim this sort of land? I thought, id open the drains, plough and reseed and undeerground drainage where necessary.

Your right, I must take soil samples. The land is supposed to be limestone rich, the surrounding fields are very good quality grazing land.

As for what use I'll make of the land when reclaimed. It will be used for horses and growing hay

ravima

23 acres cost me about €8K, to reopen old drains, clear scrub, spray, plough and reseed.

The land is now quite nice but the rushes come back and will need further spraying next spring.

If the land can take cattle, then I think it would be a shame to plant it. however, each to their own.

blue5000

Wellcome to the big bad farming world!

Track machines cost about 40yoyo an hr incl vat, you can claim the vat back for reclamation work. Depending on where you are forestry might leave the best return for your money at present.

MartyF

8k for 23 acres is fair enough. If I got away with reclaiming the 60 for 20 grand i'd do it.

So now that Im a farmer I better get a badge or something! Although all Ive got so far is a headache !! I know what your saying about the forestry but I'm going breeding connemara's. Im gamblinmg that the price comes back up in 3 years ... so hopefully i can weather out the storm

blue5000

I've some wet land myself, this autumn it looks bad. Then I realised we have had 3 bad summers in a row, clover and ryegrass are gone out of it. Your land could surprise you especially if phosphate and potash levels were improved and drains opened up.
Another thing I thought of is to get it valued before you improve it. Another thing don't plough it, you will bury any fertility that is in it, better to min till or disc it.

good luck with the horses.....

MartyF

Cheers lads for the advice ... I didn't know about the Min Till process, might be a better option to ploughing. I'll get some soil samples first, then look into the best process to get the best out of the land