Growing grass on peaty soil

cacs

I want improve the quality and quantity of grass we grow on our farm next year. Unfortunately we live the west of ireland and our farm is mixture of good quality soil and peaty soil. . But I want to grow the best grass( not rushes) I can it as I have upped our stocking numbers. Have you any suggestions

djmc

Any of the heavy land mixes from your local co op or agristore would be a good start
Timothy grass seed would also suit that type land.
Drainage and opening dykes is all you can do to help keep rushes away and spread lime.
There is a book PDF online somewhere about working on that type land in new Zealand
Amazing the amount of grass it can grow when done right but it will still need more fertilizer than good ground.

barnaman

The Italian and Perennial Ryegrasses not grown on that type of land until PH right up high and even then dobt it if Peaty. Best option join Teagasc and get their Grassland expert for Connacht out to the farm; each Province has one.

djmc

Link
http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Environment/Natural-resources/Land-and-soil/Managing-Land-and-Soil/Managing-peat/

cacs

djmc wrote: »

Any of the heavy land mixes from your local co op or agristore would be a good start
Timothy grass seed would also suit that type land.
Drainage and opening dykes is all you can do to help keep rushes away and spread lime.
There is a book PDF online somewhere about working on that type land in new Zealand
Amazing the amount of grass it can grow when done right but it will still need more fertilizer than good ground.

Thanks very much

cacs

barnaman wrote: »

The Italian and Perennial Ryegrasses not grown on that type of land until PH right up high and even then dobt it if Peaty. Best option join Teagasc and get their Grassland expert for Connacht out to the farm; each Province has one.

Yes i was thinking of contacting them

cacs

djmc wrote: »

Link
http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Environment/Natural-resources/Land-and-soil/Managing-Land-and-Soil/Managing-peat/

Thats very interesting Thanks

CloughCasey1

Ring seed direct.ie they are extremely helpful and will go through your type of ground and get back to you with a suitable mix with info from other customers with similar ground

davidk1394

cathal irwin wrote: »

I want improve the quality and quantity of grass we grow on our farm next year. Unfortunately we live the west of ireland and our farm is mixture of good quality soil and peaty soil. . But I want to grow the best grass( not rushes) I can it as I have upped our stocking numbers. Have you any suggestions

Test the soil for pH and basic nutrients and go from there. Once you know the pH your half way there

cacs

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

Ring seed direct.ie they are extremely helpful and will go through your type of ground and get back to you with a suitable mix with info from other customers with similar ground

Perfect thanks

cacs

davidk1394 wrote: »

Test the soil for pH and basic nutrients and go from there. Once you know the pH your half way there

Will do thanks

yosemitesam1

davidk1394 wrote: »

Test the soil for pH and basic nutrients and go from there. Once you know the pH your half way there

If its peaty he's stuck at index 3 allowances no matter what index it is afaik

Bullocks

Before you spend too much on growing grass on that type of land are you sure you can eat all the good grass in wet years ? We have land like that and I never have trouble growing grass but keeping it ate , sprayed and topped in wet weather can ruin your good work .
Maybe it's not as soft as our place but it's still worth bearing in mind on peaty ground.
Grass growth and grass utilisation are two different kettles of fish and us in the west often can't utilise what we grow

davidk1394

yosemitesam1 wrote: »

If its peaty he's stuck at index 3 allowances no matter what index it is afaik

Thats right. But to grow good grass effectively the nutrient content of the soil has to be known in order to spread the right type of fertilisers at the right amounts

johndeere3350

Growing big volumes of grass you can't graze Is a bad plan.
It will just die.
You need to sample the soil.
The best seed I find is sinclar mcgill and Watson.
Both Scottish and hardier than anything trialed in killkenny.
Try and get onto a guy that does seeds out of the back of a van type if you can he will know what seed you want and should be able to do all the sampling.
The guy in the co op doesn't really care.

I tink that if you plough your ploughing down what you sampled first off so whatever way you want play that Im not sure

Mad4simmental

^^^big plus one^^^^

Carrigogunnell

It's recommend that in ground like that a full diploid mix is best you get good persistency and ground cover as well as not being as highly replant as fertiliser. they produce a thick cover of grass which helps keep animals feet up

cacs

Carrigogunnell wrote: »

It's recommend that in ground like that a full diploid mix is best you get good persistency and ground cover as well as not being as highly replant as fertiliser. they produce a thick cover of grass which helps keep animals feet up

Thanks for that that's good advice and makes sense