DJ98 wrote: » Would it be too late to reseed a field around the end of May?
Haven't done a Spring reseed before - what are the timelines?
Last year I went with reseed that was done undersown to barley. Set at mid April and cut in late July for silage. Got 2-3 grazing off it then. The grass had cover with the barley so very little to worry about with drying out. Serious strike on the clover and grass. Made some good silage and cattle are mad for it. Will I do it again, definitely yes
Did you pit that silage or chance it in bales?
Pit
Done it here in bales twice . Bales were perfect. Had no poison down and still had no rats.
Did you have to spray it a couple of times while it was growing?
You were lucky. I have even seen rays destroy put stuff. I did it a few times. I always put poison out around it and keep it topped up
Well what I'm doing here for two dairy lads that are in a hurry for grass is ill hopefully spray off around end of Feb or early match depending on growth.
Disc as weather allows and hopefully be sowing early April once not frost on the cards
Planning on doing some paddocks in early May. Level ground. Index 4 for p and k and no lime required according to recent soil test. If it was burnt off for 10days and power harrowed and seed set with 1 pass and roll do I still need lime and p and k given iv no p allowance
Still worth a bag of granlime per acre as the dying grass will turn the topsoil slightly acidic
I'd leave it a minimum of 14 days at least
Always a good idea to spread p and k as it helps root development.
I think your still allowed it outside your allowance once you designate the field for reseeding on your returns to the dept something similar to claiming the MMS allowance last year.
How did people get on with red clover silage?? Would you get 3 or 4 cuts for bales off it. Do you tedd red clover
No, no need with the arable silage. That's only with a tillage only crop I presume.
Would've been cats around the yard tho.
But absolutely no vermin damage on them 2 occasions.
I got 2 cuts of silage and zero grazed grass into cows during the dry period. I left it wilt for 24 hours and then baled it.
Is it too early to go spraying off grass for reseeding? I've a few fields with red clover silage in them the last few years but it's time to reseed them with a grazing grass.
If you have plenty leaf and on a warm day it should be fine
May take longer to die but should still work
Off topic but have you ever reseeded land that was totally neglected and cattle out wintered on it that never got lime, fertilizer or slurry and rushes starting to appear in it? If so how did it turn out? By the way you give great information here
If its got rushes sort drainage first. Soil test and go from there. Depending on how it'll be utilised then decide on what mix may suit your system. If its going to continue to be low input perhaps a multispecies sward might suit if the weed burden isn't too great or can be dealt with. Would be suitable for outwintering tho
The rushes could have appeared due to compaction or a shallow wet spot. Did a field like that before.
Was ploughed and left to dry. Disced and powerharrowed.
It's now a silage field and flat as a snooker table. Most important the ploughman has to be good.
If going to be ploughed then soil testing is pointless as you'll be burying your topsoil and starting from scratch.
Rushes only in parts of it,all the land bounding it have no rushes, would ploughing help with drainage or would you have to do drains?
Why would the ploughing man be important?
if it was reseeded and looked after would there still be a chance of the rushes comming back?
Round here anyway drainage is always an issue, is there a drain near the field? If not and rest of the ground is dry perhaps the outwintering has led to water retention and gave the rushes a start along with low pH. If that's the case ploughing and correcting pH may do.
Depends on the ground really. Could dig and a hole and see how it fills with water, would give an idea. Contractor or digger man local to the area may have an idea.
If its ploughed only half assed then it can be a big job to level afterwards. Nearly more work added rather than saved.
Some lads shouldn't be let near a plough unfortunately
This ground is very sheltered, never got lime Or slurry and hasn’t got fertilizer in 20 years if it ever got it and has cattle running over it every year for the past 20 years, so you would imagine if it was reseeded you would get a good response
no drains or land drains near the field, there is a big river a quarter of a mile from the land
