Reseed advice

amacca

Hi,

Looking for some advice on a couple of acres I'm going to reseed over the coming weeks. I've had a group of bullocks out on it all winter on forage turnips and a bit of redstart so its well ploughed up etc but Im unsure about a couple of things.

1) Whats the best way to prepare the ground would people think. Its fair chopped up but not sodden etc so I was thinking a couple of runs of power harrow would level it off (no stones) then spread seed and roll....would that do, I know people tend to overthink reseeding and get precious about it but I don't want to make a balls of it.....need a decent crop for summer grazing for calves.

2) Contractors spread the turnip seed with an electronic spinner they use for sowing oats/barley etc............the coverage was a little too patchy in places partly because its such fine/small seed and partly because the spinning disc wasn't set high enough above ground level imo.....I'd say this will be used to spread the grass seed as well......could I get a good even coverage of grass seed with an electronic seed spreader and Could I give myself some room for error by dividing the field into four, spreading 2 ways, setting it high and getting more seed than the acreage should require.......what are peoples thoughts on this?....Ill attach a picture of the type of spinner I'm talking about....its connects to a socket in the tractor but last year was my first experience of it.....

3) Id say its a bit of a how long is a piece of string question but presumably anytime after the next weekend or the weekend after should be ok to spread the seed with a bit fertiliser spread beforehand?

4) Was hoping to cut down on costs by just going with post emergence spray? ...what are peoples thoughts? No clover in the sward, I'm going to spread it with fertiliser next year or the year after once i've reduced any weeds with spray etc.........what post emergence spray works well in peoples opinions?

5) Any thoughts on what sort of a mix I might use.....Its going to be a field for grazing so I'm looking for decent growth at the shoulders of the season and can handle repeated grazings and perform well.....I remember hearing about a seed variety that wasn't necessarily at the top of the ppi index but was performing better in teagasc field trials under repeated grazings......got it aston energy, what are peoples thoughts on it as part of a mix with say abergain, aberchoice and drumbo?

Reggie.

amacca wrote: »

Hi,

Looking for some advice on a couple of acres I'm going to reseed over the coming weeks. I've had a group of bullocks out on it all winter on forage turnips and a bit of redstart so its well ploughed up etc but Im unsure about a couple of things.

1) Whats the best way to prepare the ground would people think. Its fair chopped up but not sodden etc so I was thinking a couple of runs of power harrow would level it off (no stones) then spread seed and roll....would that do, I know people tend to overthink reseeding and get precious about it but I don't want to make a balls of it.....need a decent crop for summer grazing for calves.

2) Contractors spread the turnip seed with an electronic spinner they use for sowing oats/barley etc............the coverage was a little too patchy in places partly because its such fine/small seed and partly because the spinning disc wasn't set high enough above ground level imo.....I'd say this will be used to spread the grass seed as well......could I get a good even coverage of grass seed with an electronic seed spreader and Could I give myself some room for error by dividing the field into four, spreading 2 ways, setting it high and getting more seed than the acreage should require.......what are peoples thoughts on this?....Ill attach a picture of the type of spinner I'm talking about....its connects to a socket in the tractor but last year was my first experience of it.....

3) Id say its a bit of a how long is a piece of string question but presumably anytime after the next weekend or the weekend after should be ok to spread the seed with a bit fertiliser spread beforehand?

4) Was hoping to cut down on costs by just going with post emergence spray? ...what are peoples thoughts? No clover in the sward, I'm going to spread it with fertiliser next year or the year after once i've reduced any weeds with spray etc.........what post emergence spray works well in peoples opinions?

5) Any thoughts on what sort of a mix I might use.....Its going to be a field for grazing so I'm looking for decent growth at the shoulders of the season and can handle repeated grazings and perform well.....I remember hearing about a seed variety that wasn't necessarily at the top of the ppi index but was performing better in teagasc field trials under repeated grazings......got it aston energy, what are peoples thoughts on it as part of a mix with say abergain, aberchoice and drumbo?

A powerharrow would level it off ok if it has a levelling bar on it. You could just borrow a grass harrow as this should break it up and level it well for you without turning the soil to dust.

With the spinners more is better as they aren't very accurate and try to go out on a day with no wind as they are prone to wind interference. I would go at half strength and go over the field twice to make sure to get a good coverage.

No harm to spread 2 bags of gran lime per acre aswell. If going to use a grass harrow spread your lime and fert first and the harrow will mix it into the soil for you.

As for the seed is say just go for one of the proven mixes tgat germinal or agritech provide. Hard to go wrong. As for the kg per acre? Well that's up to you. I've sown it from 10kg an acre to 23kg an acre but the average is about 15kg an acre if a full reseed and 8kg to 10kg if overseeding or fixing a patchy field like a badly poached field that still has grass present in places.

I hope to be our sowing sometime next week as I hope this cold spell is the last we will be getting. I've a bit of a list ahead of myself atm. Late spring ain't helping one bit

49801

animals aren’t supposed to plough land.;-)

I’d be thinking plow it. It sounds like it needs leveling. Either plow ASAP or wait 5wks and spray off with roundup and then plow after 10days. Which you do depends on weeds status before you wintered cattle on it.

I’d not be inclined to attempt a min till approach in this scenario as they work best when land is in good nick.

Reggie.

49801 wrote: »

animals aren’t supposed to plough land.;-)

I’d be thinking plow it. It sounds like it needs leveling. Either plow ASAP or wait 5wks and spray off with roundup and then plow after 10days. Which you do depends on weeds status before you wintered cattle on it.

I’d not be inclined to attempt a min till approach in this scenario as they work best when land is in good nick.

Only thing about ploughing is it's expensive and exposes stone. Not an option around here due to that. Once ploughed tho it'll need a lot of cultivating as if not then the ridges of the plough will show after a year or two and the field will not be level

amacca

49801 wrote: »

animals aren’t supposed to plough land.;-)

I’d be thinking plow it. It sounds like it needs leveling. Either plow ASAP or wait 5wks and spray off with roundup and then plow after 10days. Which you do depends on weeds status before you wintered cattle on it.

I’d not be inclined to attempt a min till approach in this scenario as they work best when land is in good nick.

It was grazed tight, sprayed off, disced, power harrowed and redstart/turnip mix was sown in the plot before rolling at the end of last summer, the cattle have been out strip grazing it all winter (electric fence)....there is barely a single blade of grass to be seen in it..its bare earth at this stage......would that make a difference.......

It does need levelling in some spots, there are ruts where I brought in the odd bale of silage and a wet patch or two where I gave them some grain at a trough.....

definitely won't need option 2 above (e.g. spray now - wait 5 weeks)

What would you do it that scenario? still go with a shallow plough?

field was ploughed donkeys years ago according to my dad...around the time my grandad bought it according to him...must be why theres no stones in it....so stones not an issue thankfully and good deep brown earth in it

Reggie.

amacca wrote: »

It was grazed tight, sprayed off, disced, power harrowed and redstart/turnip mix was sown in the plot before rolling at the end of last summer, the cattle have been out strip grazing it all winter (electric fence)....there is barely a single blade of grass to be seen in it..its bare earth at this stage......would that make a difference.......

It does need levelling in some spots, there are ruts where I brought in the odd bale of silage and a wet patch or two where I gave them some grain at a trough.....

definitely won't need option 2 above (e.g. spray now - wait 5 weeks)

What would you do it that scenario? still go with a shallow plough?

No need for a plough if disced only done last year. Just use a landleveller on the ruts and ever powerharrow or whatever till you want.

Hardly need tilling again if your at bare earth. A grass seed only needs to touch soil.

amacca

Tks Reggie,

I was thinking something along the lines of that but wasn't sure as I'm new to this aspect of it. I have an old rotovator I was thinking of using at gaps, corners and where the round feeder was. The contractors power harrow doesn't seem to be able to get into the nooks and crannies too well. its designed for much bigger fields than this one I think.

Reggie.

amacca wrote: »

Tks Reggie,

I was thinking something along the lines of that but wasn't sure as I'm new to this aspect of it. I have an old rotovator I was thinking of using at gaps, corners and where the round feeder was. The contractors power harrow doesn't seem to be able to get into the nooks and crannies too well. its designed for much bigger fields than this one I think.

Is it a 6m harrow?

amacca

Reggie. wrote: »

Is it a 6m harrow?

Easily I'd say....maybe even more, they do tillage. I didn't measure it but it comes in three, 2 outer sections folds down. Im new to this so Im not sure of its exact dimensions.

Reggie.

amacca wrote: »

Easily I'd say....maybe even more, they do tillage. I didn't measure it but it comes in three, 2 outer sections folds down. Im new to this so Im not sure of its exact dimensions.

Yeah it's a 6m one so. Right job for levelling fields

49801

No you don’t quite follow me. There is no point spraying now.... reason for letting rest for 5 before tilling was to let weeds germinate so you would something to spray.... but if was clean previously there is no need for that as your post emergence with be enough.

Just my opinion that cattle are hard on soil structure in an situation as discribed. I’d still rather plow it but that is just me Or even disc it

amacca

49801 wrote: »

No you don’t quite follow me. There is no point spraying now.... reason for letting rest for 5 before tilling was to let weeds germinate so you would something to spray.... but if was clean previously there is no need for that as your post emergence with be enough.

Just my opinion that cattle are hard on soil structure in an situation as discribed. I’d still rather plow it but that is just me Or even disc it

Aah I did misunderstand, I thought you were under the impression the field was just badly poached with scrub popping up....the field was fairly ok before what was described above....the odd thistle or dock ...covered with buttercup one year..but mostly just tired imo

Thank you though I appreciate the opinion, I might get it disced again...ill see what the contractors opinion is.......Id say the soil structure is poor where the feeders were anyway

I was thinking the situation I described would do great job on it overall though..forage crop to break up the soil and maybe fix some nitrogen nitrogen (it was continuously used for silage in my fathers time [one cut a year then grazing] so i was thinking a bit of compaction was going on) ..then the cattle to churn it up + add their waste into the mix as fertiliser???

amacca

Bit delayed making a start on this with weather.....so was thinking might shallow plough (contractor thinks so too) then power harrow and then contractor says ring roller will do (that's all he has I think) but I was under the impression that it would benefit from a flat roller .....then spread seed then a run of the flat roller again.

What are people's thoughts on this? I can get my hands on a Fleming 8ft roller you fill with water.

If I just let it be ring rolled won't it be more spongy and prone to poaching ....albeit I'm only letting very light stock in on it for a year or two (young calves, 2-4 months)

Reggie.

amacca wrote: »

Bit delayed making a start on this with weather.....so was thinking might shallow plough (contractor thinks so too) then power harrow and then contractor says ring roller will do (that's all he has I think) but I was under the impression that it would benefit from a flat roller .....then spread seed then a run of the flat roller again.

What are people's thoughts on this? I can get my hands on a Fleming 8ft roller you fill with water.

If I just let it be ring rolled won't it be more spongy and prone to poaching ....albeit I'm only letting very light stock in on it for a year or two (young calves, 2-4 months)

If your powerharrow it will be spongy for about 6 months no matter how much you roll it. Harrowing leaves it like powder

Say my name

amacca wrote: »

Bit delayed making a start on this with weather.....so was thinking might shallow plough (contractor thinks so too) then power harrow and then contractor says ring roller will do (that's all he has I think) but I was under the impression that it would benefit from a flat roller .....then spread seed then a run of the flat roller again.

What are people's thoughts on this? I can get my hands on a Fleming 8ft roller you fill with water.

If I just let it be ring rolled won't it be more spongy and prone to poaching ....albeit I'm only letting very light stock in on it for a year or two (young calves, 2-4 months)

What I do is get contractor to plough.
Then I have a disc harrow and give it a few runs picking any stones as I do it.
Then go in with a leveller.
The leveller is essential imo and will firm up the ground. Often it can make it too hard actually.
Sometimes it may need a harrow again and a level again.
Then contractor in to spread lime at 3 t/a.c.
Then a harrow maybe and level to take out the tracks of the spreader.
Then spread the grass seed with a vicon spreader. Spread it about 20kgs/ac. Don't mind the bag saying 14 or 15 kgs does an acre, the more the better.
Then spread 3 bags of 10.10.20 and then roll with a flat roller.
Then when there's a hint of green coming on the field (usual 7 to 10 days, but can be 5) spread a bag of CAN.
Then graze with whatever. Often have the cows for first grazing and no damage. But depends on the weather.