Restoring Ungrazed Land

Kevhog1988 · 16-02-2022 12:59pm #1

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. · 16-02-2022 2:05pm

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

Jb1989 · 16-02-2022 2:22pm

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

jimini0 · 16-02-2022 3:11pm

Kevhog1988 · 16-02-2022 3:25pm

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

Never heard of it in sheep

roosky · 16-02-2022 4:22pm

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 · 16-02-2022 10:21pm

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

Would you follow with slurry / lime?

Jb1989 · 16-02-2022 11:07pm

Ah, sound job lads 👍🏽👍🏽

paddysdream · 17-02-2022 11:03am

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 · 17-02-2022 12:07pm

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.

17-02-2022 12:09pm

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

Count Mondego · 18-02-2022 12:09am

What is this mulcher ye're talking about?

Melodeon · 18-02-2022 11:22am

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 · 18-02-2022 11:25am

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

do you reckon 5 chicks restore a farm...

Count Mondego · 18-02-2022 11:45am

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

endainoz · 18-02-2022 12:00pm

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

You kinda just answered your own question there

18-02-2022 12:03pm

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

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

Deub · 18-02-2022 1:55pm

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 · 18-02-2022 2:11pm

Load of goats OP.

The place would be stinking though

Birdnuts · 18-02-2022 10:22pm

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

Kevhog1988 · 18-02-2022 10:44pm

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

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

Birdnuts · 19-02-2022 2:14am

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 · 19-02-2022 8:50am

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 · 21-02-2022 8:42pm

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 · 21-02-2022 8:58pm

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 · 21-02-2022 9:17pm

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 · 22-02-2022 10:32pm

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.