Corn Field To Grass Field

[Crash20]

I like to have 5 Acres of old corn fields converted to grass. Any and all help will be appreciated.
Thanks Don

 

[Egon]

What will the Grass Field be used for?

 

[Crash20]

It will make that area look alot better, and just more mowing!

 

[AllWaysBreakinSomething]

I assume since you have a woods finish mower you will want to cut with that. I'd suggest grading the corn field somewhat to get rid of evidence of rows. There rough on finish mowers. If you don't have grass already you may want to borrow a scrape and level them somewhat. If you have your soil tested, you may want to spread some lime and fertilizer if seeding.

If you have all the money in the world and want a beautiful constantly having to cut field (We use this on our farm to maximize hay from fescue), Then add fertilizer, lime (if needed), lightly run a cultivator over it and spread seed.

If you have a dog.. Teach him to chase birds in his spare time. This will help with the grass seed disappearing.

Since we are in winter you may want to start with just the grading part. You will get some free grass before spring. Seed, fertilize, cultivate in spring.

Any leftover corn stalks will rot quickly if you chop them up with a cultivator. You will want to do this as early as possible to give them enough time to rot before spreading your seed.
Good luck...

 

[schmism]

sounds like it needs to be disk'd and something like this afterward to smooth it out.

called a conditioner i think

then spred your seed. search for it on the boards. there was a good discussion earlyer in the fall about spreding grass seed. i was shocked at how many pounds of seed it takes. (its a lot relitivly speeking)

 

[drssg]

Our property had about 24 acres of corn stubble when we bought it in 2001. There a some areas where we have done nothing but bush hog it, and it looks remarkably green during the summer. If you look close, it's obviously not lawn quality grasses, but it looks OK from a distance.

For other sections, we rented a PTO driven rototiller and ran over it a couple of times. Then we went over it with a chain harrow a couple of times to smooth it out. Then we rented a 3PH seeder. The grass came in quite nicely. There are probably better or easier ways, but that's what we did.

 

[Crash20]

Can I ask what kind of field grass seed and how much per acre should I purchase, when I should seed it?
Thanks Don

 

[MarkV]

Don, 5 acres is a lot of old corn field to smooth. Think I would look for a local farmer with a good size disk to come and make a few runs on it. After that you could come in and drag it smooth as the moisture conditions allowed. Type of seed and amount per acre is going to vary regionally. The best bet is to take a soil sample to the county extension service and talk to the agent about what works best in your area.

MarkV

 

[andrewj]

you are in luck. I have been converting cutover woods, with stumps, roots, rocks, etc. You are already starting with fertile rock free, flat ground! harrow it when the ground is dry enough to "shatter." earlier when it is moist, and you have made a huge mistake. after silage is mostly harrowed in, add nitrogen. corn is a heavy feeder and the ground likely needs it. chicken litter will do just fine. you should be able to broadcast fescue and have it grow, better to drill it in with grain drill. you will be just fine.

 

[farmerjim]

depending on what the field looks like now and how long it was used for corn, if possible i would mold board plow it first. then harrow it up and pick out the rocks, then smooth it out and plant your grass. the plow will bury any weed seeds that may have been growing within the corn. definately take a soil sample b4 planting grass as corn likes lots of N (nitrogen) for growth and some grasses may not do well. again i would check around b4 deciding what grass to plant. there are many theorys on rotating crops from corn to grass, since i was a kid my family has always done what i mentioned above when going from corn to grass on the farm and it has always done well, but different areas may differ from my location. cornell university has some really good guidelines for doing what you want to, you may want to look into that.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Resource Center & Store :: Agriculture :: 2007 Field Crop Guide

 

[PBinWA]

One point from my experience, the more effort you put into making the lawn as smooth and flat as possible the faster you will be able to mow it later. It's one of those things where a few extra hours up front will save you tons of hours later.

Look into renting a Bobcat with an attachment called a "soil conditioner". This would probably cost you less than $1000 for a day and you would have a great surface for planting seed.

 

[john_bud]

One point from my experience, the more effort you put into making the lawn as smooth and flat as possible the faster you will be able to mow it later. It's one of those things where a few extra hours up front will save you tons of hours later.

Look into renting a Bobcat with an attachment called a "soil conditioner". This would probably cost you less than $1000 for a day and you would have a great surface for planting seed.

Now that is some good advice!

jb

 

[firefighter9208]

Why not turn it into a hay field. Surely you have a local farmer that would contract to cut the hay off of it. They would fertilize it, spray for weeds, and cut the hay every 4 to 6 weeks. It would cut down a lot on the costs of maintenance for you and provide another hay field for a farmer. Just a thought.?


Chris

 

[andrewj]

depending on what the field looks like now and how long it was used for corn, if possible i would mold board plow it first. then harrow it up and pick out the rocks, then smooth it out and plant your grass. the plow will bury any weed seeds that may have been growing within the corn. definately take a soil sample b4 planting grass as corn likes lots of N (nitrogen) for growth and some grasses may not do well. again i would check around b4 deciding what grass to plant. there are many theorys on rotating crops from corn to grass, since i was a kid my family has always done what i mentioned above when going from corn to grass on the farm and it has always done well, but different areas may differ from my location. cornell university has some really good guidelines for doing what you want to, you may want to look into that.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Resource Center & Store :: Agriculture :: 2007 Field Crop Guide

inverting the soil layer and putting topsoil below clay can be a huge mistake: before bottom plowing, determine how deep topsoil is. One thing's for sure, if you invert the clay on top of the topsoil, then you will be guaranteed to need either lime/sulpher in addition to a lot of fertilizer. So in that respect, doing "something" for the sake of doing something can be a mistake. First step is soil sample, if it is no more nutritious than 8 inches down, then you may consider using a bottom plow, just that you may also turn up some rocks to contend with.

 

[flusher]

inverting the soil layer and putting topsoil below clay can be a huge mistake: before bottom plowing, determine how deep topsoil is. One thing's for sure, if you invert the clay on top of the topsoil, then you will be guaranteed to need either lime/sulpher in addition to a lot of fertilizer. So in that respect, doing "something" for the sake of doing something can be a mistake. First step is soil sample, if it is no more nutritious than 8 inches down, then you may consider using a bottom plow, just that you may also turn up some rocks to contend with.

Since your field has corn stubble, chances are it's already been done over with a moldboard plow. Probably no need to repeat that process.

If it were my field, I'd go over it with a heavy offset disc (a primary tillage tool), followed by a symmetric tandem disc (a secondary tillage tool) and then finish it off with some type of drag (my favorite is a drag made from old auto/truck tires chained together). Then you'll have a nice seedbed ready for planting. If the corn crop is recent, the ground may be sufficiently loosened that you could skip the work with the offset disc.

My neighbor plants 10 acres of hay and does the prep using a Ford 8N (28 hp engine) and a 7-ft symmetric tandem disc. He runs the disc criss cross and diagonally (4 passes over the ground) and then smooths and levels with a simple chain link fence drag.