Restoring Ungrazed Land

Kevhog1988

Hi All,

Im after getting some land to rent that has been ungrazed and let run a bit wild for a few years. I was planning on letting last years dry lambs onto it first and grazing it fairly hard before going in with a topper and letting ewes & lambs on it for the follow on grass. Is there a better way to do it? There is probably 2/3 years worth of grass that was ungrazed.

Reggie.

Sounds like the best way to be honest. At least you'll know what your dealing with after the sheep are done

Jb1989

Can sheep get red water? If so, be mindful of that on old pastures.

jimini0

Kevhog1988

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640550#Comment_118640550

Never heard of it in sheep

roosky

No sheep dont get red water, i dealt with a similar situation by letting sheep graze it maybe 70% of the way and then got a mulcher in...defiantly worth the few extra euro to get it mulched v's topped

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118641605#Comment_118641605

Would you follow with slurry / lime?

Jb1989

Ah, sound job lads 👍🏽👍🏽

paddysdream

Done that this year .Neighbour leased a farm couple of years ago which had a 12 acre field which was left ungrazed for a number of years .He tried grazing it with cattle but didn't really clear it off plus nice bit of ragworth in it .It's rough enough ground between wet spots and rock outcrops .

I took c.400 ewes off green cover they had finished after Christmas and put them on it for 5 weeks .

Let's just say there ain't a lot of grass left on it now .He is gonna clean it up best as he can ,give it a shot of lime and slurry and see if what comes back is OK for cattle.Not really feasible to reseed it properly .

_Brian

Seen local land here that was idle same... Mulched and it was green lush grass very quickly afterwards... I see sheep in on it now.

Not a farmer, but have five chickens. They are more lethal to plant life than rosate or roundup

Count Mondego

What is this mulcher ye're talking about?

Melodeon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118650262#Comment_118650262

It's this sort of thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSL3ge2Amu4

Think of a giant hedge cutter flail head, it shreds everything into tiny bits which decompose into the soil quite quickly.

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118645676#Comment_118645676

do you reckon 5 chicks restore a farm...

Count Mondego

That's mighty. Would it be overkill for a badly grazed field? The topper doesn't get down far.

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118652159#Comment_118652159

You kinda just answered your own question there

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118652018#Comment_118652018

No. Pretty much implied that there would be some upscaling involved.

Deub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118652296#Comment_118652296

Which would involve a high cost : buy the chickens, buy feed, structure to house them and collect a lot of eggs.

Donald Trump

Load of goats OP.

The place would be stinking though

Birdnuts

I have a couple of Donkeys and nothing demolishes woody/tough growth like them.

Kevhog1988

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118656107#Comment_118656107

I have 2 ponies. Might chance them as the cleanup crew lol

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118656238#Comment_118656238

Hard mouth ponies good too - got 2 pets of Shetlands that are hardy as %%%%, in fact they seem to prefer winter conditions with rough herbage cos one of them got laminitis when left 2 summers ago on one of our better paddocks so now they are kept on the most exposed paddocks right through the winter which is also when their coats etc. look their best!!

Kevhog1988

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118657100#Comment_118657100

Ours are two we used to have for hunting when i was a kid and are in their late 20s now. TBH they are parasites around the place at this stage but i wouldnt have the heart to sell them now. We have them over 20 yrs

kollegeknight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118652159#Comment_118652159

I mulched very thick rushes with the mower in the above photo. It’s slow going for the contractor but to be honest it does a great job. The rushes are lighter by far and able to be dealt with now.

good luck with it.

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118669448#Comment_118669448

The slower the tractor speed the better. It’s good to do same the following year too. Sadly it doesn’t take them long to get a hold and a nice while to weaken

older by the day

A few years ago I got a bit of grazing that wasn't grazed for years. And I out wintered all my yearlings with a round feeder and the odd bale. They had a great winter and they broke it down grand (and we all lived happily ever after)

Dickie10

you may rememember some time ago i was thinking of approaching a man on a landed esteste, the front lawns (70-80 acres) were never grazed for a few winters and summers. i had a chat and offered 5k and we looked at what improvments could be made , drainage , fencing etc, i wanted the security of 15 year lease though. all was going well and i thought i was on a winner, however he decided to rewild instead. this mans family got a bad doing over the years on their lands with unpaid rents, i think this is what happened with the lawn areas. anyway would have been a lovely project but i went teaching full time soon after anyway, would have been nice if not tied to a day job.

Kevhog1988

A bit more mulching done today. About 12/13 acres of the 20 done now.

https://youtube.com/shorts/zvtYeMqsrLA?feature=share

The Nutty M

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120315172#Comment_120315172

I thought my land was bad until I see that Kev. 😁😁. Jesus 20 acres will be a massive change. Is that a Major Cyclone ?

I was at the same three weeks ago and it's so satisfying.

https://youtube.com/shorts/xTom4Fm_aXs?si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

endainoz

Looks like a cyclone alright, some job for that type of ground.

Hard Knocks

Will you add lime / soil conditioner?

Kevhog1988

That was a particular bad corner. The rest was mostly rushes. Id let the ewe lambs amongst it first with lick buckets etc to pick but they werent tramping it quick enough for my liking.

Kevhog1988

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120316284#Comment_120316284

im not sure what ill do next. Fella who mulched reckons to let sheep on it again and then fert or slurry?.

would welcome suggestions.

Say my name

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120318146#Comment_120318146

I wouldn't be putting fertiliser on it. Not yet anyway.

Pig slurry if you can access it now. Although is there something about pig slurry being higher in copper and that's not good for sheep?

But the argument for the pig slurry in this case and copper is this looks like virgin land so levels may be low anyway.

I'd slurry now. See how that goes. Then go for a spray off and reseed (plough) (depends on your machinery available to do the job though) in the autumn or late summer in Leitrim.

Look then for amendments. Lime, mag, sulphur, egg shells, whatever. Even mushroom compost is probably available handy enough in that part of the country.

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120318287#Comment_120318287

I think cattle slurry. I was warned not to spread pig slurry on hungry ground. If it’s anything like here the top soil maybe thin and it could be best to nurish rather than break the crust. The WBC was rotivated here and is very spongy compared to rest

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120318467#Comment_120318467

Chicken Litter especially from broiler houses but you have to plough it in straigh away

Kevhog1988

Same Fields I had mulched in previous video I posted on here.

Kevhog1988

I've recently got my weedlicker running. Just wondering should I hit the rushes before or after grazing??

Jb1989

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122472030#Comment_122472030

Sure go as soon as possible providing the grass isnt long enough to be also weedwiped

Kevhog1988

Seeing incremental improvements now 🙌

patsy_mccabe

One very simple and cheap way to plan an improvement on land, is simply look over the ditch at the land next door. If it's the same vein of land, then you know what you can achieve over time.

Farm365

Do you need permission from the Department to reclaim land? I have an area covered in heather, Ferns and Furze that I’m looking to reclaim.

Say my name

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122577207#Comment_122577207

You have to have a certain % of ground as space for nature. If your planner has that ground as that % then you can't touch.

You'd know other schemes hen harrier, etc if you are in them that you couldn't touch.

Kevhog1988

Few pics of grass progression.

Kevhog1988

Ewes are really thriving well here after weaning. These are the bunch that were shook enough after rearing lambs.

Kevhog1988

Going to hit these rushes with agroxone this week. I have my weedlicker going now so hopefully will help more.

Would it be any addition to spread a bit of fert this time of year?

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122623739#Comment_122623739

K only N will benefit rushes, P is too soliable and gets washed away easy. I be using 18-6-12 next spring, little and often depending on soil test results. Just keep it topped then

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122624902#Comment_122624902

Bass, in that type of ground with a probably ph in the 5’s, the P is probably there in sufficient quantities, but not available to the plant. I would say that P is very immobile in that ground. What I would do there is cut or mulch them rushes. Apply a little lime and fertiliser and spray them rushes when they’re back at a foot high. You will see as the ph rises the p index will rise too.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122632373#Comment_122632373

IIf The PH is low I would consider granlime or growmax. That type of ground. Can be hard to get ordinary line onto

Ya if you rise the ph, P&K become.more available Growmax is a hydrated lime in granular form

Kevhog1988

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122632804#Comment_122632804

And i can spread that with my fert spinner?

Farmer Dan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122632973#Comment_122632973

Yes, just keep all the windows shut on the tractor…..