Newb question about the farm

[warhammer]

There are two fields on my land that have been row cropped yearly for decades. Field sizes are 5 and 24 acres.
For the last 7-8 years crops have rotated mostly between corn and cotton with maize being grown this year.

The farmer who leased it for at least the last 10 years just let me know he is semi-retiring and will not be looking to renew the lease.

I want to convert the fields to pasture. At this point the maize has been harvested and the fields have the remaining 2-3 foot high stalks of the maize plants.

What do I need to do from here to get the fields ready for seeding grass?

 

[MarkV]

Well the first thing I would do is talk to the county extension agent for advice. He/She will know what type of grass works the best in your area and can guide you through getting a soil test done. The soil test will tell the condition of the soil and what additives like lime for PH and fertilizer for nutrients are required before planting.

MarkV

 

[Podunkadunk]

I agree with MarkV. Find out what grass grows in your area, is drought tolerant and bug resistant. Soil test and county ag. agent contact won't hurt.

Podunk

 

[warhammer]

Around here it primarily seems to be coastal or some type of bermuda.
I had planned on getting a soil test done.
I was more curious on how to physically get the fields ready for sprigging or seeding to see if it was something I could do or needed to hire out.

I agree with MarkV. Find out what grass grows in your area, is drought tolerant and bug resistant. Soil test and county ag. agent contact won't hurt.

Podunk

 

[redlevel]

Around here it primarily seems to be coastal or some type of bermuda.
I had planned on getting a soil test done.
I was more curious on how to physically get the fields ready for sprigging or seeding to see if it was something I could do or needed to hire out.

You need to mow the stalks down pretty close. Then, get someone in with a heavy disc harrow to chop the stalks some more. Take your soil samples. If the fields need lime, go ahead and get that added this fall. Harrow the lime in good to incorporate the lime and chop the stalks some more. Remember, if you put it in pasture, this will be the last time you will be able to actually incorporate anything, particularly lime. If Phosphorous is needed, it wouldn't hurt to incorporate that. N and K will leach into (and out of) the soil any time you want to add it. I like to break the soil deeply to shatter the hardpan. You can do it with a heavy chisel plow and lots of horsepower, or a subsoiler and lots of hp, depending on how many shanks you pull. Once you get it broke good and deep, come in with a harrow with a leveling drag behind it. You need to get a fairly firm seedbed, so you might have to go over it several times to do that and achieve a good, level planting surface. As long as you don't do this when it is too wet, you won't negate the good you did with the subsoiler or chisel. You should get through with this sometime in early spring and be ready for a custom planter to come in with a sprigging machine to plant your coastal.

That's how I would do it.

 

[warhammer]

Thanks for the reply.
From the other fields around here it looks like the time to mow the stalks and disc is now.
Any rule of thumb about how many disc passes should be done and how deep do the discs need to cut?
If the field was regularly row cropped and was definitely plowed last year would that negate needing to plow it now or not?
If not how long after the discing and lime or other amendments are added before plowing?

Sorry for so many questions.

Warhammer

You need to mow the stalks down pretty close. Then, get someone in with a heavy disc harrow to chop the stalks some more. Take your soil samples. If the fields need lime, go ahead and get that added this fall. Harrow the lime in good to incorporate the lime and chop the stalks some more. Remember, if you put it in pasture, this will be the last time you will be able to actually incorporate anything, particularly lime. If Phosphorous is needed, it wouldn't hurt to incorporate that. N and K will leach into (and out of) the soil any time you want to add it. I like to break the soil deeply to shatter the hardpan. You can do it with a heavy chisel plow and lots of horsepower, or a subsoiler and lots of hp, depending on how many shanks you pull. Once you get it broke good and deep, come in with a harrow with a leveling drag behind it. You need to get a fairly firm seedbed, so you might have to go over it several times to do that and achieve a good, level planting surface. As long as you don't do this when it is too wet, you won't negate the good you did with the subsoiler or chisel. You should get through with this sometime in early spring and be ready for a custom planter to come in with a sprigging machine to plant your coastal.

That's how I would do it.

 

[redlevel]

Sorry for taking so long.

Yeah, now is the time to mow the stalks and start chopping them up. I assume the "maize" you are speaking of is milo, or what we call grain sorghum down here? You just need a harrow with good scalloped disks to do a good job of cutting the stalks up after mowing, and to bury some of the litter. Probably two passes, the second at at least a 45 degree angle to the first would do a good job. Then, you will probably need to harrow again in the spring to get ready to sprig the bermuda.

If there isn't a hard pan, there is probably no need to plow again. Just remember, if you go to pasture, this will be the last time for many years you are able to do anything about the pan. I can tell you from experience that it is easier to start correctly than to try to remedy something you should have taken care of earlier. If your renter has been plowing deeply with a subsoiler or big chisel plow each year, you can probably get by without deep plowing. You can easily find if there is a hard pan with a soil probe. If the tube goes to ten or twelve inches and feels like it hits a brick, you have a pan. Do it at a lot of different places in the field. Hard pans usually form just below normal plow depth. If that is about ten inches, you will find the pan at about twelve inches. In that case, you need to subsoil at least 16 inches.

I think this is one of the biggest mistakes people make. "It's just grass. Why go to all that trouble and expense of plowing."

Here is how I do it.

In the above picture, I have subsoiled as deep as my little FT 535 would pull the old straight shanked Ford subsoiler. Probably 18 inches or so.

In the picture below, I came back with the tractor wheels directly on top of the subsoil furrows made on the first pass. This breaks up a lot of the clods I pulled up on the first pass. The relatively light tractor doesn't appreciably re-compact the soil. The second pass is easier because the soil is shattered at least 12 inches on either side of the subsoiler on the first pass. After this, a couple of trips with a harrow with a drag for leveling should leave you in good shape.

A bigger tractor with more hp and a two or three shank subsoiler just makes the job quicker.

 

[warhammer]

Yes milo is what is planted.
My understanding is the same farmer has leased the fields for about 20 years. He definitely plowed the fields last year as I bought the place in December and the ground was still turned over into huge clods of dirt.
I will check on whether there is a hardpan level.
Thanks again for the info. This gives me a good direction to start.

Warhammer

Sorry for taking so long.

Yeah, now is the time to mow the stalks and start chopping them up. I assume the "maize" you are speaking of is milo, or what we call grain sorghum down here? You just need a harrow with good scalloped disks to do a good job of cutting the stalks up after mowing, and to bury some of the litter. Probably two passes, the second at at least a 45 degree angle to the first would do a good job. Then, you will probably need to harrow again in the spring to get ready to sprig the bermuda.

If there isn't a hard pan, there is probably no need to plow again. Just remember, if you go to pasture, this will be the last time for many years you are able to do anything about the pan. I can tell you from experience that it is easier to start correctly than to try to remedy something you should have taken care of earlier. If your renter has been plowing deeply with a subsoiler or big chisel plow each year, you can probably get by without deep plowing. You can easily find if there is a hard pan with a soil probe. If the tube goes to ten or twelve inches and feels like it hits a brick, you have a pan. Do it at a lot of different places in the field. Hard pans usually form just below normal plow depth. If that is about ten inches, you will find the pan at about twelve inches. In that case, you need to subsoil at least 16 inches.

I think this is one of the biggest mistakes people make. "It's just grass. Why go to all that trouble and expense of plowing."

Here is how I do it.

In the above picture, I have subsoiled as deep as my little FT 535 would pull the old straight shanked Ford subsoiler. Probably 18 inches or so.

In the picture below, I came back with the tractor wheels directly on top of the subsoil furrows made on the first pass. This breaks up a lot of the clods I pulled up on the first pass. The relatively light tractor doesn't appreciably re-compact the soil. The second pass is easier because the soil is shattered at least 12 inches on either side of the subsoiler on the first pass. After this, a couple of trips with a harrow with a drag for leveling should leave you in good shape.

A bigger tractor with more hp and a two or three shank subsoiler just makes the job quicker.

 

[wushaw]

What kind of grass/weeds do you want?
Everybody around me has disked their fields in to get the stalks into the ground.

 

[Egon]

Will you be considering hay quality grass at any time?