redstart then reseed

amacca

Going to burn off a couple of acres spread some farmyard manure and put a crop of redstart in for winter feed with the aim being to reseed in spring

Looking for a bit of advice on the first stage of putting in the redstart as Im new to this. How should the ground be prepared for the crop of redstart?

I was thinking

1) burn off with roundup
2) spread the FYM 6/7 days later
3) plough......I was thinking the ploughing should be shallow so as not to bury the good soil on top...maybe a depth of 8inches but I'm unsure on that ....would really like a bit of advice on this as I don't want to be railroaded by contractor as I know next to nothing about ploughing...is it fairly straightforward not to plough too deep....is it advisable not to...field hasn't been touched in at least 50 years but its a good level field

4) land leveller
5) harrow, disc
6) sow seed
7) roll
8) spread a bit of fertiliser as well as the FYM


then plough again in spring and re-level etc and reseed

Thoughts?

Reggie.

amacca wrote: »

Going to burn off a couple of acres spread some farmyard manure and put a crop of redstart in for winter feed with the aim being to reseed in spring

Looking for a bit of advice on the first stage of putting in the redstart as Im new to this. How should the ground be prepared for the crop of redstart?

I was thinking

1) burn off with roundup
2) spread the FYM 6/7 days later
3) plough......I was thinking the ploughing should be shallow so as not to bury the good soil on top...maybe a depth of 8inches but I'm unsure on that ....would really like a bit of advice on this as I don't want to be railroaded by contractor as I know next to nothing about ploughing...is it fairly straightforward not to plough too deep....is it advisable not to...field hasn't been touched in at least 50 years but its a good level field

4) land leveller
5) harrow, disc
6) sow seed
7) roll
8) spread a bit of fertiliser as well as the FYM


then plough again in spring and re-level etc and reseed

Thoughts?

Don't forget lime. All that FYM will turn the ground acidic

blue5000

The way I did it last year was
spray off
bale and wrap, leave bales on headland
spread fym
spread slurry and plough in immediately
roll
shake seed with vicon
roll again.

But we would be on what waffletraktor would call 'boys land', easy to till as it's sandy, Neks came to visit at christmas and he walked it in shoes when I was moving the fence.

8 inches would be on the deeper side, 6-7 inches would be better. Make sure the contractor uses skimmers on the plough. Any idea what P, K and pH is like?
Put in a bit of forage turnip as well. Next year I suggest undersow spring barley with grass seed after ploughing to bring the fertile soil back up.

amacca

Reggie. wrote: »

Don't forget lime. All that FYM will turn the ground acidic

Thank you.....forgot to mention was going to go with gran lime to neutralise the acidity of burned off grass but forgot about the FYM making things acidic too

How many bags to the acre of gran lime would you reckon? the field will get a decent coating of FYM from a side slinger

blue5000 wrote: »

The way I did it last year was
spray off
bale and wrap, leave bales on headland
spread fym
spread slurry and plough in immediately
roll
shake seed with vicon
roll again.

So no need for discing, power harrow at the initial stage of putting in the redstart...leave that for when I'm reseeding

blue5000 wrote: »

But we would be on what waffletraktor would call 'boys land', easy to till as it's sandy, Neks came to visit at christmas and he walked it in shoes when I was moving the fence.

Dry, fairly level field...brown clay to a good depth and probably lots of stones:D
...Its a limestone area

blue5000 wrote: »

8 inches would be on the deeper side, 6-7 inches would be better. Make sure the contractor uses skimmers on the plough. Any idea what P, K and pH is like?
Put in a bit of forage turnip as well. Next year I suggest undersow spring barley with grass seed after ploughing to bring the fertile soil back up.

Thank you for that....

Yeah I did a soil test last february

Calcium on the high to bordering on very high side approx 950mg/l
Phosphorus very low approx 2 mg/l
Potassium low 56 mg/l
Magnesium high 70 mg/l
Sodium low/average 36 mg/l
Manganese very high 9.85 mg/l
Copper low 497micro g/l
Zinc low 613 micro g/l
Boron v low 0.44 micro g/l
Molybdenum 15 micro g/l
pH 5.9

Was advised not to put out much in the way of lime due to the high molybdenum......or at least soil test next spring before the reseed when making the decision about lime.

Where have ye found the best place to buy the seed? redstart and forage turnip? what kind of mix would you sow if you were putting in the turnip as well 50/50? and about 2kg of mixed seed to the acre?

Oh and 18/20 month bullocks will be grazing the Redstart if that makes a difference

Didn't know you could do that with spring barley......so what its root system draws nutrients up and as its grazed it dies out of the reseed?...it will probably be a batch of strong calves that will be initially grazing this field in a paddock type set up

Just a bit of background to the field....meadow was taken off it with haphazard application of fertiliser over the years....18-6-12 or 10-10-20......there wasn't much in the way of thought or effort went into managing it imo, which was probably understandable given the circumstances

Reggie.

2 bags of gran lime is recommended for sprayed off grass so if ya wanted to put out that amount at least

Forgot them mention don't put too much FYM on the ground as you could bury the seed. FYM is a pure haven for slugs aswell

Sam Kade

What's the advantage of redstart over forage rape? Also why would you have to burn off the old sward with roundup? I grew forage rape many times over the years and never burned off the old sward.

amacca

Reggie. wrote: »

Forgot them mention don't put too much FYM on the ground as you could bury the seed. FYM is a pure haven for slugs aswell

Id be putting on the FYM and ploughing it under so I'd be thinking it shouldn't bury the redstart seed and then in spring it would be well mixed through for the reseed....would I be right in thinking that?

Sam Kade wrote: »

What's the advantage of redstart over forage rape? Also why would you have to burn off the old sward with roundup? I grew forage rape many times over the years and never burned off the old sward.

I was going for redstart on the basis of yield...its a hybrid of rape and kale so even sowing now the crop should be ok..it should have some of the growth characteristics of rape and the some of the yield of kale?

I was also going for it on the basis it has a nice deep root and it should break up the soil......field has been cropped for hay/silage repeatedly over the last 20/30 years....I'd be thinking it might be suffering from a bit of compaction...definitely on the headlands

Reggie.

Thought you said you will be spreading FYM after it was sown

amacca

Reggie. wrote: »

Thought you said you will be spreading FYM after it was sown

No I was thinking plough it under to a shallow depth and it will be enriching the soil and turn it into a holiday resort for the worms and the reseeded grass next spring:D

But best laid plans and all

Sam Kade

Reggie. wrote: »

Thought you said you will be spreading FYM after it was sown

That would be a good way to make sure it doesn't grow.

Mooooo

Spread your dung, plough, level with leveler,spread lime and fert, set seed and roll and close gap. If you have ground to bale around the time of setting perhaps do that and leave bales where you want to feed out.

blue5000

amacca wrote: »

Where have ye found the best place to buy the seed? redstart and forage turnip? what kind of mix would you sow if you were putting in the turnip as well 50/50? and about 2kg of mixed seed to the acre?

Oh and 18/20 month bullocks will be grazing the Redstart if that makes a difference

Didn't know you could do that with spring barley......so what its root system draws nutrients up and as its grazed it dies out of the reseed?...it will probably be a batch of strong calves that will be initially grazing this field in a paddock type set up

Just a bit of background to the field....meadow was taken off it with haphazard application of fertiliser over the years....18-6-12 or 10-10-20......there wasn't much in the way of thought or effort went into managing it imo, which was probably understandable given the circumstances

I get the seed either from Cotswold seeds in the UK or Agritech near Nenagh

The barley acts as a nurse crop for the grass seed and is cut for arable silage roughly 12 weeks after sowing. Not sure exactly what the seed rate was for the redstart/turnip mix but it needs to be higher when broadcasting than if it was drilled in. Have a google on Cotswold seeds website, lots of info there.

Reggie.

blue5000 wrote: »

I get the seed either from Cotswold seeds in the UK or Agritech near Nenagh

The barley acts as a nurse crop for the grass seed and is cut for arable silage roughly 12 weeks after sowing. Not sure exactly what the seed rate was for the redstart/turnip mix but it needs to be higher when broadcasting than if it was drilled in. Have a google on Cotswold seeds website, lots of info there.

Do you sow it together or leave a few days to sow the grass seed. I was advised to sow the barley and then sow grass seed 3 days later so the grass doesn't smother the barley

blue5000

I try do it all the one day and roll it in. Barley germinated very fast, 3-4 days this spring. But I do the barley first and try cover it, grass seed if rain was on the way I just roll it, if it's dry I use the poor man's einboch;).

Reggie.

blue5000 wrote: »

I try do it all the one day and roll it in. Barley germinated very fast, 3-4 days this spring. But I do the barley first and try cover it, grass seed if rain was on the way I just roll it, if it's dry I use the poor man's einboch;).

But still on the one day

Sam Kade

Mooooo wrote: »

Spread your dung, plough, level with leveler,spread lime and fert, set seed and roll and close gap. If you have ground to bale around the time of setting perhaps do that and leave bales where you want to feed out.

What about top dressing with a bag of can a month after seeding?

Mooooo

Sam Kade wrote: »

What about top dressing with a bag of can a month after seeding?

Well yes if its required, put it all out at seeding last year it did fine