Re-seeding land

tony007

I was thinking of re-seeding middling to marginal land. Its fairly hilly. I intend to put sheep on it after.
Cost-benefit wise, is it better than spraying the rushes to keep them off the land for a few years?

6480

tony007 wrote: »

I was thinking of re-seeding middling to marginal land. Its fairly hilly. I intend to put sheep on it after.
Cost-benefit wise, is it better than spraying the rushes to keep them off the land for a few years?

i would spray the rushes and soil sample to see what the land is low in first

Markcheese

Are rushes a sign of lime deficiency ?
(I know they're a sign of water too )

Timmaay

If the rushes are of a result of blocked/poor drainage etc, sort that out now before you reseed also, rushes will probably keep on returning otherwise, unless we finally get a good long run of dry weather!

tony007

The land needs to be drained. Its quite wet.
I have stone to fill the land drains.

6480

tony007 wrote: »

The land needs to be drained. Its quite wet.
I have stone to fill the land drains.

make sure the drains are dug well and tidy and with a bit of a fall

Muckit

If you have rushes, the land is holding water. Spraying off and reseeding will get rid of rushes for a while, but they will come back if you don't sort out drainage. I've seen fields reseeded in the last three years, but looking over the ditch now you'd never think that they were.

@€;250/acre, a pure waste of money reseeding if you don't sort out the basics like drainage first.

tony007

Muckit wrote: »

If you have rushes, the land is holding water. Spraying off and reseeding will get rid of rushes for a while, but they will come back if you don't sort out drainage. I've seen fields reseeded in the last three years, but looking over the ditch now you'd never think that they were.

@€;250/acre, a pure waste of money reseeding if you don't sort out the basics like drainage first.

And do you think that it is worth it if it is drained and re-seeded?

Muckit

Only you can answer that! But in most cases, if you sort drainage and fertilise and lime right, there would be no comparison between between old and new lay

tony007

Thanks for the help. I will post up pictures tomorrow of the land and some of the land drains already in place.

1chippy

If your going the plough method, there is no point in being disillusioned by a price of 250, by the time all is in (slight dependency on soil test results) you will be looking at the bones of 400 per acre. it would be a pure waste if you didnt drain however. if its drained properly you should get at least 20-30 years benefit out of it and the reseed 8-10 years but it is recommended shorter to get maximum value out of the ground.As was said already its only you who can determine whether its worth it.

NewBeefFarmer

on my land, i see good slopes, hills even, and rushes. . .

all land would be high and hilly,

yet i have rushes. . . a lot of one off rushes, one there one here one over ther.

ill cut/spray, but i find that the land is very wet, . . . but its hills,

the only think ill ask "is rolling a benefit". .. the cattle hoof marks would be filled with water .. am i stupid to think that if i rolled the land and flattened in those marks that the water would run down the land more. .

ceannfort

NewBeefFarmer wrote: »

on my land, i see good slopes, hills even, and rushes. . .

all land would be high and hilly,

yet i have rushes. . . a lot of one off rushes, one there one here one over ther.

ill cut/spray, but i find that the land is very wet, . . . but its hills,

the only think ill ask "is rolling a benefit". .. the cattle hoof marks would be filled with water .. am i stupid to think that if i rolled the land and flattened in those marks that the water would run down the land more. .

Write last year off as a total exception an hope to never see the like again. Rolling helps but better again is not to poach the ground def less rushes.

tony007

Trying to upload photos onto Flickr and then to here. Its taking a long time though.

jp6470

Reseeding for sheep i would think hard about.but our own grass for silage for example, I have no problem myself,once its poor till drain,lime,reseed whatever it needs.

Farmer Pudsey

NewBeefFarmer wrote: »

on my land, i see good slopes, hills even, and rushes. . .

all land would be high and hilly,

yet i have rushes. . . a lot of one off rushes, one there one here one over ther.

ill cut/spray, but i find that the land is very wet, . . . but its hills,

the only think ill ask "is rolling a benefit". .. the cattle hoof marks would be filled with water .. am i stupid to think that if i rolled the land and flattened in those marks that the water would run down the land more. .

Do not roll it will only compact ground. If you can get a chain harrow give it a run or two of it,

tony007

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94505735@N02/8604745888/

tony007

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94505735@N02/8604710316/in/photostream/

Here's some photos of the land.

moy83

There is a good piece about reseeding in the farmers guardian . I picked it up yesterday in Easons and dare I say but its a better read than the Journal