I need to have a 2 acre "virgin" field plowed

[Fug1000]

I have a 2 acre field I want to turn into a horse pasture.

I have bush hogged it but I have found I have about 1000, inch round or less, 'sticker' bush' stumps dotting the field.

I know these would play 'heck' on any horses hooves so I have to get rid of them.

Next door neighbor suggested I get it "Furrow Plowed" to a depth of 8 or 9 inches then take a harrow over the entire thing with my tractor to get rid of roots and little stumps then boxblade it flat then plant alfalfa seed and not put any horse on it until next spring.

Ok.....Questions.

1) Does this sound like the right method? Furrow Plowed?
2) If I try to do it with my B7800....what implements do I need? A Disc? A 2 or 3 pronged plow? Will my bota be able to handle it?
3) Should I just try to hire it out? (The plowing) I think I can for sure handle the harrow and boxbladeing myself.
4) Alfalfa seed? Is that what you would plant? Where would a person get this? How would it be spread?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[ampsucker]

Couple of questions....

First, how many horses? 2 acres is good for about 1 horse. Unless you are rotating fields every couple of months.

Alfalfa is good for hay, but I would consider other crops if you plan to do anything else besides horses with it. Alfalfa is a modest nitrogen fixer but may actually require fertilization if you want a good crop. It removes many nutrients from the soil - good for the horses, not good for the soil the following year.

You can pull a one bottom plow with your B. One bottom 14-16 inch plow is good for 7-8 inch depth if set up correctly. I would give 1 inch stumps a year to decompose before plowing. The roots will probably shut you down due to loss of traction if they are still green.

I would brush hog the field all year this year to keep things knocked down. You might even spray with roundup if that is in the budget to make sure the weeds and brush are dead. Alfalfa is sensitive to competition. Therefore, it makes sense to either kill off what is there now or grow a smother crop and till it under.

As a first smother craop, buckwheat is a better choice. If you want to save money on fertilizer, grow clover or cowpeas first as they will fix nitrogen. Then you can till them under and plant your alfalfa the following season. Alfalfa is sensitive to harvest time and so you can't just let the horses graze as they please. You need to time it carefully.

You can get all types of seeds at your local feed store. Since you don't have anything fancy, I would just spread them with a broadcast spreader and then go over the field lightly with a harrow or disk to bury them. You'll loose a few to the birds, but most will come up.

I think you can do this yourself with a B. Google it to get more info on sowing rates, timing, etc.

amp

 

[Fug1000]

Thanks for the reply.

Answer: One horse to begin with, maybe one more a year after the first.

I just want the end result to be a horse pasture. I don't want to plant anything I need to harvest. I want it all just to be smooth grazing land.
It's reasonably flat now with a few very small peaks and valleys (less than 1 foot) I already have my barn built and I have all my fence lumber... I thought (before I bush hogged the field) I would be able to put a horse on it this year but I have reconsidered because of the thousand or so 1 inch stumps I created after cutting the field.

I do want a plan that puts at least one horse on this pasture by next spring.
So I don't want to give the roots a year, I want them gone now. But keep in mind, I am not against hiring someone with a big boy tractor to come turn the field for me. I figure it will be much cheaper to hire someone then it would be for me to go buy a 3 point plow. A plow I would probably only use once, for this project.

 

[Egon]

Check locally to find out what makes for good horse pasture grass in your area. Alfalfa it's not as it does not pasture well. It does make good hay.

Have the soil checked to find out how to amend it for the proper growth off pasture grass.

If it's affordable have the base cultivation done. If not a rototiller may work well for the area in question.

For two acres spreading fertilizer, lime and seed could be done freehand or with a small hand held spreader. It may take a little time but does not require expensive equipment. A drag of some sort for after the seeding.

 

[Ranger Rick]

The best time to plant grass is in September. That does not mean you can not plant it in the early spring. You will want to get started soon. You may also want to overseed it in the fall to insure a good stand of grass next year.
I think I would try a disc on the field first to see what it gets rid of. If that works then you do not need to go to the trouble of plowing and then discing.
You may want to contact you local NRCS agent for help planning your field Ohio NRCS
I found that they are very helpful. Good Luck, Rick

 

[Egon]

The best time to plant grass is in September.

This may depend on what climate zone one is in.

 

[MikeInEburg]

If you're otherwise happy with the grass that's there, I'd leave it alone. Keep it clipped for the next couple of months and the brush stumps will die and rot. Turning over the soil will just allow the millions of weed seeds a chance at life.
Mike

 

[greenmule]

Yeah,disking might be the way to go here[if you had a big heavy disk,but a smaller one with weight on it might also work],you could go over it and over it with disk weighted down,might get rid of alot of them little stubs,than,you could lime,fertilize and seed,and go over it again with unweighted disk.

Or you could get you a real good brush cutter/trimmer,with saw blade on it,and 4 days later you might be done plus have grass. Chain saw will get them down too.

Thats the thing with brushogging real brush,it leaves stubs,generally though,they ain't sharp,unless you got a sharp blade.

 

[Fug1000]

UPDATE> 1 YEAR LATER:

Searching last year for a farmer with a plow was a lot harder than I expected....I live in a farm belt!

I could not find anyone to plow this field for me. All the farmers around here are now doing the 'surface planting' and they don't plow the fields anymore.

So...
I kept it bushhogged all last year.

This year I put an ad in my local paper and had 3 guys call me to do it on the 1st day!

A very nice guy brought his old Orange Allis Chamlmers workhorse with his plow and turned all up for me in about 3 hours.
He is coming back a few days after the next rain to disc it.

Total fee he is charging me? $75 I can't believe it's so cheap!


ANYWAY.....

So I have had a year to consider my options. In a week or two, this field will be disced and ready for seed.

I don't want to plant alfalfa. I want a good grazing grass, I don't want something I will need to harvest.

I live in south western Ohio.

What should I seed it with? Should I put something on it like roundup this year 1st?

If I plant something to smother the weeds that will grow....is there something I can plant that will do that job without the need to plow the field again? Something that will be good for both smothering weed growth and a good grazing grass? Could I plant several types of grass?

I have a nice start.... what is the next step?

 

[savageactor7]

Do whatever you have to do to get rid of the stumps first...if there's 1 stump there a horse will find a way to injure itself on it. Then consider birdsfoot trefoil as a pasture grass...but check with your Ag agent first...in some states it's considered an invasive species.

 

[charlz]

Farm and garden stores around here sell 'Pasture Mix' seed. Not sure what all is in it but likely a mix of grasses. I know some is labeled 'no clover' so I would think that is definitely just grass. Grass-only mix is nice as you can spray with 2-4-d or other broad-leaf killer to take the non-grass weeds out once things get going.

Disk can leave it a little rough.... is he going to drag it with a harrow or something to smooth it out? Or is that up to you? Did you figure out what amendments you need to add?

 

[ayelvington]

Buckwheat! It's a great smother crop, does wonderful things for your soil. Bees love it, and you can disc it in later and it makes a stellar green manure.

Buckwheat rocks...

 

[Fug1000]

Disk can leave it a little rough.... is he going to drag it with a harrow or something to smooth it out? Or is that up to you? Did you figure out what amendments you need to add?

This is all up to me. I am going to ask him to disk the heck out of it then I will be on my own.

Buckwheat seems to be the most popular answer here... sound right?

 

[brin]

Whatever you decide to do, if you disk the pasture and start over with a new seed bed then you need to keep your horse off of the pasture for at least 2 years or it will tear the pasture up..You need to give it time to establish itself. If there is anyway through weed control and selectively removing your stumps and then a program of fetilization and weed prevention, after you get a soil test , to maintain your existing pasture grass ( if you have any ) then I would take that option and then aerate it and overseed it in the fall. Good Luck !

 

[dcyrilc]

I use these guys for my seeding needs. They will give good advice if you drop them an Email.:thumbsup:
LA Hearne Company : Quality Seeds Since 1938
I had them ship me 400# of seed for about $200 last year.

 

[Egon]

2000 Ohio Forage Performance Trials, Series 195, Perennial Grasses

A site explaining forage species in Ohio. Note there may be perennial and annual grasses. On two acres with one or two horses annual will only be good for the first year. The horses will have it all grazed down.

Plant the grass seed and cover crop together as early as you can. The cover crop protects the grass from wind and erosion.

Oats or buckwheat make a good cover crop.

 

[Fug1000]

I use these guys for my seeding needs. They will give good advice if you drop them an Email.:thumbsup:
LA Hearne Company : Quality Seeds Since 1938
I had them ship me 400# of seed for about $200 last year.

Thanks. It was considerably more for shipping to me.... almost $200 for shipping but what this site did very well was to give me a breakdown of the types of seeds in their mixtures.... now I know what to look for locally.

 

[dcyrilc]

Thanks. It was considerably more for shipping to me.... almost $200 for shipping but what this site did very well was to give me a breakdown of the types of seeds in their mixtures.... now I know what to look for locally.

I went back and looked at my records. My memory was faulty. It was 250# for $427. Still much cheaper than I can find locally. And a better mix than anything I found around here. Glad the site was able to give you helpful information. One thing I will mention is a few weeks ago, I hand spread about 50# of seed and just left it sit on top of the ground. It has had a fantastic germination rate. Good seed.