Reclaim 2 acres of bog

jack77

Hi there, just getting back into doing a bit of farming after our 10 acres was rented out for the last 7 years, ( not exactly southfork i know ) but we also have 2 acres of bog between our fields, does any1 know what i would have to do to reclaim it and more so what would it cost?

LostCovey

jack77 wrote: »

Hi there, just getting back into doing a bit of farming after our 10 acres was rented out for the last 7 years, ( not exactly southfork i know ) but we also have 2 acres of bog between our fields, does any1 know what i would have to do to reclaim it and more so what would it cost?

If it is bog: it is waterlogged peaty solid with a high water table and an acid pH.

You can lower the watertable, and work on the pH to degree, but if it is peaty soil it will always be trying to revert to what it is.


I imagine it will cost more to (re) claim it than it will ever return, you will have to spend your entire life codding it that it is land, and the minute you stop/die it will start to revert.

But the people round here will tell you I have an unhealthy pessimistic streak.

Personally, I would farm/till the good stuff and take some turf for the house off the 2 acres of bog.

You will save more in oil/coal than you would ever return in agricultural profit.


LostCovey

Tipp Man

Wouldn't reclaiming a bog be covered by the new rules that were released a few weeks ago?

Eleganza

Not disagreeing with anything here but I'm of the opinion that Ireland as a country is better drained than it was in previous centuries and it is possible to properly reclaim land without it reverting to it's previous state.

Of course there is some land that will never be anything but bog due to topography.

My uncle said that reclaimed land is never as good as proper land and said his milk yields would always drop when the cattle were on the land that had been reclaimed more than a decade before.

If the reclamation is successful then you'll increase the value of the land but not by enough to ever justify the expense.

I'd see a lifetime's supply of free fuel from turf as great wealth in itself.

Joe the Plumber

How deep is the bog? If its less than three feet you can bury it. A mighty job solid, green and will never go back to rushes again.

Forget the cost.. It will do you good to look out at a green field and say to yourself.. I made that.

The Bull McCabe never looked at things commercially.

just do it

jack77 wrote: »

Hi there, just getting back into doing a bit of farming after our 10 acres was rented out for the last 7 years, ( not exactly southfork i know ) but we also have 2 acres of bog between our fields, does any1 know what i would have to do to reclaim it and more so what would it cost?

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What state is it in currently? Is it grazable? It is flat or badly poached? Is it true bog or just a wet boggy field?

As it's only 20% of your holding you could adopt a conservative strategy involving careful grazing (i.e. avoid poaching), rolling, topping, spraying, possibly a low level of lime. Be careful with lime as it causes water retention and those can make wet land wetter (around here they say "boils up the land"). 2 years of this will make a big difference.

LostCovey

Joe the Plumber wrote: »

The Bull McCabe never looked at things commercially.

The Bull McCabe lost everything including his sanity in the end.

johnboy6930

bury the bog..and bring up the gravel..the deeper the bog the more it costs..he have 45 acres of bog .some areas up to 10 feet deep and other place a foot or 2 deep. we have 25 acres done and you could travel it any day of the year..there only one disadvantage the ground is poor for a while after..

just do it

johnboy6930 wrote: »

bury the bog..and bring up the gravel..the deeper the bog the more it costs

This idea is new to me. What's involved and how much does it cost, lets say per ft of bog on 1 acre?

jack77

its only about 3-4 ft deep maximum. any turf that could be got was taken years ago and as far as i can remember it it was poor stuff, all 4 sides of the ground is surrounded by proper fields, and as its seperating 2 of my own fields it would be ideal if we could make something out of it. any idea ball park cost? 4 or 5 thousand to do anything decent with it?

Birdnuts

The neighbour reclaimed some bog next to my place in North Mayo about 10 years ago. After much expense intially he still appears to be spending alot of time maintaining it and dealing with almost constant poaching problems any time theres a bit of damp weather. I don't think he even bothers to use it in winter - even though its fairly mild here right by the coast:rolleyes:

jack77

Where we are could never be described as mild during the winter, will have to do some more research before trying anything, just a shame having land that i can't use and more than a little frustrating!! was trying to weight up cost of doing the work (with unknown results) vs buying 2 acres,

20silkcut

I re-seeded 20 acres of bog land in 2007. It cost me 600 quid to burn it off with round up.
1800 quid to rotavate very difficult to find a contractor to do it, and yes he did get stuck quite a few times. 2007 was a very wet year.
2200 to sow, level and ring roll,including grass seed.

Started in June finished in October of that year.

I keep it topped regularly to keep it under control but there are plenty of rushes on it .

Tipp Man

jack77 wrote: »

its only about 3-4 ft deep maximum. any turf that could be got was taken years ago and as far as i can remember it it was poor stuff, all 4 sides of the ground is surrounded by proper fields, and as its seperating 2 of my own fields it would be ideal if we could make something out of it. any idea ball park cost? 4 or 5 thousand to do anything decent with it?

Is it worth spending that kind of money on 2 acres??

jack77

if i was getting 20 acres of useable ground, doesnt make sense to put in that work and cash for 2 though, back to the drawing board on that 1. Thanks 20silkcut for the figures

johnboy6930

just do it wrote: »

This idea is new to me. What's involved and how much does it cost, lets say per ft of bog on 1 acre?

there two methods of turning bog..if its a foot deep its just a matter of sticking the bucket in and flipping it over you could do about and acre a day that way..but if it an deeper than that it would have to be trenched (thats the second method) and that consist of digging a trench and putting the bog to your left and digging the gravel out...(thats how you start it)then move over the wight of the bucket put the bog into the hole that was just dug.dig the gravel out and but it on top of the bog..may sound confusing but simple enough..you would do about a acre a week this way..and is hard on diesel!! (one of the lad have a video on you tube.ill try find it will show you how to do it)

just do it

johnboy6930 wrote: »

there two methods of turning bog..if its a foot deep its just a matter of sticking the bucket in and flipping it over you could do about and acre a day that way..but if it an deeper than that it would have to be trenched (thats the second method) and that consist of digging a trench and putting the bog to your left and digging the gravel out...(thats how you start it)then move over the wight of the bucket put the bog into the hole that was just dug.dig the gravel out and but it on top of the bog..may sound confusing but simple enough..you would do about a acre a week this way..and is hard on diesel!! (one of the lad have a video on you tube.ill try find it will show you how to do it)

So if it's only a ft deep and a day's work it will cost ~€220 an acre, as digger and man are €27ph around here at the moment. The trenching method will cost ~€1,000 an acre.

Then of course there is reseeding etc on top of that. Though iIf it's as good a job as you say and you can use the first method it's worth considering.

just do it

jack77 wrote: »

will have to do some more research before trying anything, just a shame having land that i can't use and more than a little frustrating!!

What about forestry?

jack77 wrote: »

was trying to weight up cost of doing the work (with unknown results) vs buying 2 acres,

Out of interest, what would you consider spending per acre if you knew it would turn it into productive ground?

johnboy6930

just do it wrote: »

So if it's only a ft deep and a day's work it will cost ~€220 an acre, as digger and man are €27ph around here at the moment. The trenching method will cost ~€1,000 an acre.

Then of course there is reseeding etc on top of that. Though iIf it's as good a job as you say and you can use the first method it's worth considering.

a man with a mini digger mite be getting €27ph ha .not a hope could we run a 22ton machine for that price.what size machine he have?

Joe the Plumber

Its well worth the money, even at 40 euro/hr for the digger, All you have to do after it is pick off a few stones and seed it.

Give it plenty slurry for the first couple of years to build up a skin.

I have it done and I am getting a great return form the ground, plus even at 1500 an acre, its your own outside the door and you wont buy land for 1500 AFAIK.

Go for it, spending money on that land any other way is a waste of money, it will always be soft and wet.

You have to be able to travel ground with a tractor to be able to maintain it properly.