Broadcast seed onto bare field?

[petebert]

Converting former crop field to hay. We have a seed drill available but what do you think about discing the field, broadcast spreading the seed and then running a cultipacker over it? Why? I don't know, my neighbor with a dairy farm will be doing most of the work and he mentioned doing it this way instead of using the drill. The field does get a lot of rocks so this method wouldn't beat up the drill.

 

[joeu235]

should work if its a crop with real small seeds.

 

[oldnslo]

If you can broad cast the seed even enough. Alfalfa seed is awful light so potentially any wind could blow it around while trying to spread it. Pick the rock before planting. It will help prevent destroying your mower, baler etc.

 

[jeff9366]

I do not do hay, but I do plant Bahia and game food plots often.

Adjust the Disc Harrow for shallow penetration = smooth seed bed behind the implement.

Cultipacker firmed seed should germinate fine, especially small to medium size seed.


LINK: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ing-three-point-hitch-mounted.html?highlight=

 

[petebert]

I've been working on getting the rocks out, whenever I drive through I pick up any of the big ones I see. It's a 10 acre field and there's a lot of rocks in it. The front 3 acres of this field was converted to pasture 2 years ago and that's made a huge difference with the rocks. There's barely any on the surface up there now.

 

[jeff9366]

Nice rocks.

Here in sandy Florida we pay seven cents a pounds for similar to construct rain gardens. At seven cents a pound we have to haul them from the rockery. Rocks are sourced in Tennessee.

 

[M5farms]

Nice rocks.

Here in sandy Florida we pay seven cents a pounds for similar to construct rain gardens. At seven cents a pound we have to haul them from the rockery. Rocks are sourced in Tennessee.

there are plenty of rocks in Florida.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I personally would spray all vegetation on the fields then work the ground before planting grass seed, the grass in my yard grows about half as fast as the tilled garden that was done this spring that I ended up not planting in so now it gets mowed.

I would chisel plough it, disk it smooth, pick up rocks and drill it with a mixture of grasses that grow good in your area.

Around here a guy down the road from me planted his field in a mixture of Timothy, Orchard, Oats and Alfalfa, that hay was off the hook, I was given a round bale because the oats were too wet when he went to bale and my cattle tore that bale up like nothing I ever fed them before.


Just my 2 cents

 

[TheMan419]

Im in the process of converting a former corn field to pasture for the horses. Spraying with roundup first. Then let it all die for 7-10 days. Then will till under. Then will likely harrow to get a good seed bed. As for planting seed I am planning on broadcast spreading.

I did the above method on a 25 foot swath around the barn because I wanted a test plot and wanted it to look nice around the barn. Planting was 8 days ago and I have a nice mixture of grasses growing. That being said this is NOT the right time to plant grass in Northern Indiana. About another month or so and we are in the good times.

 

[petebert]

Did you go back over it with anything after broadcast seeding?