Reseeding Thread 2014

PatL23

That time of year again lads.

So my dad and I walked the silage fields today to see how growth was coming along. Growth is ok in parts but some fields(silage) have a lot of weeds coming up.
Since many of our fields havnt been reseeded in 25+ years i can see this being the reason for our weed infestation and in general poor enough grass growth/utilisation of fertiliser.
So we've decided to reseed about 8-10 acres per year over the next 5-6 years in both pasture and silage fields.

What method(s) would you recommend for reseeding?
I was thinking of ploughing and giving it 2 passes of a power harrow to give a fine seed bed then seed it.
But iv read of other methods such as disc and power harrow, chain harrow then seed, direct seeding, one pass.
Is ploughing really necessary?
Which method would yield the best cost:performance ratio. Saying that i wouldn't mind paying extra if it meant better results.

In some places our soil is heavy and other places is light, so maybe different methods for different soil types?

So this is my plan.
1. Spray with Roundup biactive/Gallup 2L/Acre
2. Graze tight
3. Shake 100kg gran-lime/Acre
4. 6 days after spraying (insert reseed method here)
5. Shake 150kg 10-10-20/Acre
6. Roll
7. Apply grass seed(Drill?)
8. 6 weeks after seeding apply post emergence spray(what type?)

Does my plan look right?

Iv seen farmers shaking grass seed with their fertiliser spreaders and the seed just sits on top, it doesn't seem like a good idea to me so what should the contractor use for seeding?

I'm sure iv left out something, but let the discussion commence

freedominacup

Just finished putting in wholecrop barley. Ground laid out for a reseed we'll direct drill grass seed as soon as the wholecrop is cut in early August. Worked very well for us last year. Cows did very well on the wholecrop over the winter and was an excellent buffer feed at grass during the first round. Cows didn't miss a beat the few days they had to be kept in. Reseed took very well and we even got away without a post emergence spray as the stubble was so clean after the wholecrop. Not having to spray was an added bonus wouldn't be banking on getting away with it most of the time. The dded grass seed just got away on the weeds and smothered them last year.

Deepsouthwest

freedominacup wrote: »

Just finished putting in wholecrop barley. Ground laid out for a reseed we'll direct drill grass seed as soon as the wholecrop is cut in early August. Worked very well for us last year. Cows did very well on the wholecrop over the winter and was an excellent buffer feed at grass during the first round. Cows didn't miss a beat the few days they had to be kept in. Reseed took very well and we even got away without a post emergence spray as the stubble was so clean after the wholecrop. Not having to spray was an added bonus wouldn't be banking on getting away with it most of the time. The dded grass seed just got away on the weeds and smothered them last year.

Sat wholecrop here last yr, and v happy with it as well , but set the grass with it at the same time as the barley. Had calves in it 11 days after cutting

freedominacup

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Sat wholecrop here last yr, and v happy with it as well , but set the grass with it at the same time as the barley. Had calves in it 11 days after cutting

Did both last year. Wholecrop on its own far better than undersown.

Robson99

Done both of the following methods here.

Heavy soils

Spray
Graze
Plough
Power harrow x 2
Fertilise
Seed
Roll
Graze or Cut Silage

Stoney / Light Soil

As above except we dont plough.

Results are very similar. We dont use post emergence spray as we put in clover. [Not saying this is right. Maybe we should forget about the clover]

What I will say is that your type of grass seed mix is of more importance than what type of seed method you use. There are a few types of seed being sold that are poor. [ Been there done that and learning all the time;)]

Also new reseeds require to be well managed and fertilised and then you will get the return

munkus

Robson99 wrote: »

Done both of the following methods here.

Heavy soils

Spray
Graze
Plough
Power harrow x 2
Fertilise
Seed
Roll
Graze or Cut Silage

Stoney / Light Soil

As above except we dont plough.

Results are very similar. We dont use post emergence spray as we put in clover. [Not saying this is right. Maybe we should forget about the clover]

What I will say is that your type of grass seed mix is of more importance than what type of seed method you use. There are a few types of seed being sold that are poor. [ Been there done that and learning all the time;)]

Also new reseeds require to be well managed and fertilised and then you will get the return

100% correct.

use same method as above except use disc instead of power harrow. Tried to save time by disc harrowing a few times to avoid ploughing, but back to ploughing now.

Never compromise on seed or fertilizer, have done in the past to our detriment.

Sick of minding clover too, not worth it with the weed problems. Clover safe sprays are ****.

Robson99

munkus wrote: »

100% correct.

use same method as above except use disc instead of power harrow. Tried to save time by disc harrowing a few times to avoid ploughing, but back to ploughing now.

Never compromise on seed or fertilizer, have done in the past to our detriment.

Sick of minding clover too, not worth it with the weed problems. Clover safe sprays are ****.

Do you find any difference in discing v power harrow munkus?

Also what type of seed do you find the best?. Last seed I used was mg 30 . Sometimes it can be hard to tell with seeds until they are 3 or 4 years established

PatL23

Thanks for the replies.
We've decided that were going to put a cut and graze mix seed with no clover on the silage fields because we only take 1 cut of silage and graze for the rest of the year.
What vendors or seed mixes would you recommend?
How many Kgs of seed per Acre would you put out?
Also if we DO get a lot of weeds post seeding what spray would you use?

PatL23

Also when is the best time to shake the granulated lime? before or after ploughing/harrowing we shook gran-lime after we seeded a small patch last year and it stayed on the ground for ages despite it got plenty of rain

simx

Taken yesterday evening, sown, fert, gran lime and rolled, today's showers should help it off the mark

visatorro

is that ploughed or a couple of runs of a harrow?

simx

visatorro wrote: »

is that ploughed or a couple of runs of a harrow?

two runs of power harrow, would avoid ploughing if possible due to bad soil. ect,
these fields were direct drilled last autumn and was a disaster, expensive reseeding now :mad:

sea12

Looks a good seed bed now. Should come up well for you in this weather.

Lambofdave

simx wrote: »

these fields were direct drilled last autumn and was a disaster, expensive reseeding now :mad:

What machine was the direct drill?
And what reason do you put it down to not working?

Sami23

simx wrote: »

Taken yesterday evening, sown, fert, gran lime and rolled, today's showers should help it off the mark

Looks good simx. Did you roll before and after spreading the seed or just after. I know some lads like to roll before also to get a firm bed for seed ?

kevthegaff

i reseeded 12 acres and lawn before the rain, sprayed for 8 days, powerharrowed, landleveled rough bits as cattle were fed on some of it, grass barrow and then rolled. ploughing wasnt an option as too many stones!

Farrell

kevthegaff wrote: »

i reseeded 12 acres and lawn before the rain, sprayed for 8 days, powerharrowed, landleveled rough bits as cattle were fed on some of it, grass barrow and then rolled. ploughing wasnt an option as too many stones!

Let us know how that goes, have a few similar fields.
Did you soil test, or apply lime?

micraX

Op would you not let ten acres out for spuds every year and get it laid back down with grass afterwords? My uncle lets a field out for spuds everyyears and you can see the different from the fertilizer from the spuds the next year, be worth it like with the Money spud ground is making. Well it does depend were you are and if you have destoner-fobia or not

sheebadog

micraX wrote: »

Op would you not let ten acres out for spuds every year and get it laid back down with grass afterwords? My uncle lets a field out for spuds everyyears and you can see the different from the fertilizer from the spuds the next year, be worth it like with the Money spud ground is making. Well it does depend were you are and if you have destoner-fobia or not

Spuds, from experience, are very hard on land.
The difference that you see is probably the breaking down of the old bawn sod.

Mad4simmental

sheebadog wrote: »

Spuds, from experience, are very hard on land.
The difference that you see is probably the breaking down of the old bawn sod.

What do you mean by bawn sod Sheepdog? Is it an old sod getting turned back up agen?

micraX

sheebadog wrote: »

Spuds, from experience, are very hard on land.
The difference that you see is probably the breaking down of the old bawn sod.

Well it depends on conditions when harvesting. It it's wet, you'll have a bit of compaction, run of the subsoiler or mole drainer should sort ot out, I disagree as he reseeded a bit at the same time 2 years ago without letting spuds in it and the ex spud ground grows better grass.

simx

sea12 wrote: »

Looks a good seed bed now. Should come up well for you in this weather.

heres hoping, and praying

simx

Lambofdave wrote: »

What machine was the direct drill?
And what reason do you put it down to not working?

it was a moore unidrill
by right it should of been done a little earlier but weather conditions were grand after drilling, mild winter, wouldnt of said too dry really as we have heavy enough ground but i have read it requires good enough moisture, im wondering was it the machine as i know two other lads that the same contractor drilled for last year and are being done again now, if i was going to try it again id only do it on a small plot, 1/2 acres as i did 13ac last year and its an expensive ressed now and missed out on a couple of grazings too:mad:

simx

Sami23 wrote: »

Looks good simx. Did you roll before and after spreading the seed or just after. I know some lads like to roll before also to get a firm bed for seed ?

just rolled afterwards

freedominacup

simx wrote: »

it was a moore unidrill
by right it should of been done a little earlier but weather conditions were grand after drilling, mild winter, wouldnt of said too dry really as we have heavy enough ground but i have read it requires good enough moisture, im wondering was it the machine as i know two other lads that the same contractor drilled for last year and are being done again now, if i was going to try it again id only do it on a small plot, 1/2 acres as i did 13ac last year and its an expensive ressed now and missed out on a couple of grazings too:mad:

When did you dd? A few lads got caught around here with late sowing. No matter how good the year is late sowing is late sowing with grass seed.

We dd'd in the first week of August and were grazing first week of Oct despite only one nights rain in the intervening period. The same drill was working close to us the night we first put the cows into the re-seeding. Take there was extremely poor though there does seem to be a cover on it at this stage. Would you have done a conventional job as late as you direct drilled?

We have done it twice here and if a paddock isn't suitable for growing wholecrop in future or no in need of leveling after hardship we will continue to use dd. Far less work and cost and excellent results.

jd06

simx wrote: »

two runs of power harrow, would avoid ploughing if possible due to bad soil. ect,
these fields were direct drilled last autumn and was a disaster, expensive reseeding now :mad:

Did u disc before power harrowing

simx

freedominacup wrote: »

When did you dd? A few lads got caught around here with late sowing. No matter how good the year is late sowing is late sowing with grass seed.

We dd'd in the first week of August and were grazing first week of Oct despite only one nights rain in the intervening period. The same drill was working close to us the night we first put the cows into the re-seeding. Take there was extremely poor though there does seem to be a cover on it at this stage. Would you have done a conventional job as late as you direct drilled?

We have done it twice here and if a paddock isn't suitable for growing wholecrop in future or no in need of leveling after hardship we will continue to use dd. Far less work and cost and excellent results.

Some about 20 august and more first week September

simx

jd06 wrote: »

Did u disc before power harrowing

Just two runs of power harow

munkus

simx wrote: »

Just two runs of power harow

What HP is your tractor?

Sami23

Slightly off topic but can anyone tell me if you can carry out reseeding in a field that you have in your AEOS plan for payment on Species Rich Grassland or Traditional Hay Meadow ?

blue5000

Sami23 wrote: »

Slightly off topic but can anyone tell me if you can carry out reseeding in a field that you have in your AEOS plan for payment on Species Rich Grassland or Traditional Hay Meadow ?

I doubt it, but I suppose if you shook some on the hay ground stubbles it might work with a coat of slurry.

Lambofdave

freedominacup wrote: »

What dd machine you use?
Did you use slug pellets?

simx

munkus wrote: »

What HP is your tractor?

Contractor did it with 3 metre and t130 valtra

simx

Lambofdave wrote: »

What dd machine you use?
Did you use slug pellets?

A Moore unidrill, yes

frazzledhome

Stitched in 20 acres today. It really was a great day for the job. Should be up quickly

frazzledhome

I lost a reseed to Frit fly last Sept. All came up and in a few days was gone. Three neighbours lost grass the same week one was conventional.

Slug pellets in ley essential also.

Greengrass1

frazzledhome wrote: »

I lost a reseed to Frit fly last Sept. All came up and in a few days was gone. Three neighbours lost grass the same week one was conventional.

Slug pellets in ley essential also.

How much is spray with frit fly?
Neighbour did a reseed last autumn and burnt it off again and had to redo it. Think he would have done everything right seeing as he works for a grass seed company

td5man

frazzledhome wrote: »

I lost a reseed to Frit fly last Sept. All came up and in a few days was gone. Three neighbours lost grass the same week one was conventional.

Slug pellets in ley essential also.

is draza gone off the market?

tabby aspreme

Hoping to burn off a field for reseeding in a couple of weeks, there are some nettles and a few thistles starting to appear in it , will the roundup do a good enough job on the weeds or should i spray them first, i know with some of the good weed sprays you cannot reseed for a long time after use

frazzledhome

td5man wrote: »

is draza gone off the market?

Yes, I couldn't get yesterday

RightTurnClyde

frazzledhome wrote: »

Yes, I couldn't get yesterday

Ah boll1x
What did you use instead?

frazzledhome

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

Ah boll1x
What did you use instead?

Don't know name just took pellets given. I think new ones degrade sooner than Drasa

frazzledhome

Greengrass1 wrote: »

How much is spray with frit fly?
Neighbour did a reseed last autumn and burnt it off again and had to redo it. Think he would have done everything right seeing as he works for a grass seed company

Don't know as paddock that failed had to be redone in Oct so fly wasn't a problem. I'll be going with Frit spray with weed spray (3 leaf stage) anymore

Zr105

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Hoping to burn off a field for reseeding in a couple of weeks, there are some nettles and a few thistles starting to appear in it , will the roundup do a good enough job on the weeds or should i spray them first, i know with some of the good weed sprays you cannot reseed for a long time after use

Round up should kill all before it really!

Robson99

Have a few acres to reseed. Looking for a good grazing mixture with one late May silage cut. Which of the following would ye recommend, MG 30, Sinclair & McGill Turbo or Top 5 Extend ??

simx

Slowly but surely

case885

Field is ploughed since before the weather broke a few weeks ago so its a balls, how long would ye leave dry before harrowing? There hasnt been many dry days in cork, thurs and fri are dry so should i chance it?

Robson99

Robson99 wrote: »

Have a few acres to reseed. Looking for a good grazing mixture with one late May silage cut. Which of the following would ye recommend, MG 30, Sinclair & McGill Turbo or Top 5 Extend ??

Anyone?

jt65

case885 wrote: »

Field is ploughed since before the weather broke a few weeks ago so its a balls, how long would ye leave dry before harrowing? There hasnt been many dry days in cork, thurs and fri are dry so should i chance it?

we disced 13 acres monday , was hoping to leave it a few days but the immediate forecast is bad

took the bull by the horns tuesday & power harrowed it & spread the seed

it wasn't anything as dry as I would have liked but was anxious to get it done

depends on your ground it will dry fast in the sods if it gets a chance

frazzledhome

Got the last of my spring reseeding done yesterday evening. Spilling out now, good planning or good luck? This really dragged as the other piece was done before the weather broke and as this was drained we couldn't get to it till yesterday. Relieved to have it done as I could see it dragging on.

Timmaay

I want to push on with more reseeding here, but my dad is very slow about it now that we are stocked heavy. Should I go for a split reseed, about 7acres in June/July, and a similar amount in the Autumn? Drought is the biggest risk here in the summer. Or should I just take the hit and do about 15 acres in Sept (which would be about 14% of the farm), and go for a 2nd cut now instead.