Pasture renovation with modified with rototiller

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Pasture rennovation can be done a number of ways. It depends on:

1) How sodbound/compacted/lack of aeration they are
2) How weedy they are
3) What species of pasture grass or grasses your trying to rennovate
4) Pasture fertility status

Straight discing like your describing can work well especially with some rhyzomatous species like smooth brome (stimulates rhyzome production). In bunchgrass pastures like orchard grass it likely won't work as well.

If fertility is way down or it is excessively weedy this likely won't work.

Be good to post some pics so we can see just what your trying to deal with.

-Ed-

 

[dixiedrifter]

Pasture renovation is a pain in the butt...

If one has old pasture that has not been worked in 10 years or so, then the best way to renovate is to work with mother nature to get rid of the sod rather than to try and chop and beat into submission with equipment. If worked early enough, the bacteria and other soil dwelling critters will get rid of the roots by seeding time in the fall making saving a lot of work and fuel.

If one is to sow cool season grasses such as fescue or orchardgrass, the time to start getting the ground ready is no later than the middle of July.

Cut everything off with a disc mower and bale up as much hay as possible. Wait till it comes back a few inches and is actively growing, then spray with roundup and hit with a little bit of ammonium nitrate to help decompose the dead roots.. or you can just till it right after the baler gets out of the field to eliminate as much vegative residue as possible, but this will leave the dirt very clumpy with large sod balls everywhere.

In August, come back with a spring tine cultivator a day or so after a good rain. I have a 9 shank Baltiboy that does a great job of breaking up ground, but it will choke quick if there is much residue at all hence the need to cut the grass off first with a disc mower.

http://www.agequipmentusa.com/agequipmentusa/PDF_files/Baltic Baltiboy All Purpose Plow.pdf

After plowing, hit with a few passes of a disc a to chop up the root balls and let it rain on it a few times. In early Sept, the ground should be pretty clean with few root balls to mess things up. Hit it with the spring tine cultivator again as deep as possible and preferably trailing a spike harrow to level the dirt out... if done in this manner there is no need to disc. If the soil needs lime or other amendments, this is the time to work ithem in.

When seeding, run over the freshly worked ground with a cultipacker or roller, seed, and roll again.

Hit heavy around the first part of march with fertilizer and enjoy a nice hay crop the next spring.

 

[VistanTN]

I don't know what part of Dixie you're drifting in ... but 'round here (Middle TN) your suggestions which count up to at least three rains haven't occurred since July. If/when we get some decent rain, dunno what my pastures will look like -- the grasses crunch under foot and the weeds aren't a heckuva lot better. Know any horse breeds that will eat and thrive on cactus?

 

[dixiedrifter]

I'm over in west TN by Lexington.

In a normal year you can do what I posted. But this year has been insane, and from what I understand middle TN is even worse than here.

Good news is that ground is actually wet here from the rains the last couple days.

Don't think I've seen them this wet since the first part of July, and before that back in March.

 

[VistanTN]

Right here (50 mi SE of Nashville), we've had less than 3" since late March. The ground is dry and hard no matter how deep you dig (well, within reason). My pond is 4+' lower than last year at this time -- another week or so of this and I'll be able to drive in and clean out the bottom with the scoop loader -- and have no fear of getting stuck!

 

[IllMarty1]

What about spraying Round-up twice a couple weeks apart and then just using a heavy disc or tiller? When I started this hobby, I soon discovered that this was the most time efficient/ less labor intense way to prepare the ground for planting.

Marty

 

[Luremaker]

Thanks for the input. I have around 15 acres which I would like to renovate this fall. I can not simply disk or plow this entire cow pasture. The pasture is simply too rocky. There are large rocks just peeking out of the ground every 20 or thirty feet over the entire pasture.

Over the weekend my sons and I cut the pasture, pulled chain harrow (great for rolling the surface stones), and picked up all the stones (baseball to basketball sized) we could find. I hope to spray with 2-4-d this week to get rid of many of the broad leaf weeds. After that break up the sod a little to expose soil for the new clover/grass/trefoil seed. I do not want to go any deeper than 1 to 2 inches because of the rocks. Soil compaction does not seem to be a problem in most of this pasture.

Attached is a photo of my pasture. It is really hard to tell from the photo the real condition of my pasture.

 

[Greyfields]

Well, if you're using round-up, pasture renovation is going to be a helluva lot easier. I elect not to spray, so it takes a lot more mechanical action.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

Ever try a Harley rake? The beauty here is shallow penetration, leveling, and somewhat packing of the soil. It can get the sod balled up in front if it's rooted heavily, but if you let it dry it can knock it to bits. It will also cull out the stones for you.

I've been through the bottom plow, followed by rototiller (big mistake) and would definitely recommend a Harley rake. You can pitch it too to create small drainage troughs...

 

[Highbeam]

I've been through the bottom plow, followed by rototiller (big mistake) and would definitely recommend a Harley rake. ...

Please tell us why the rototiller was a big mistake.