# Pasture maintenance? What do you do?



## SkippnD (Jul 28, 2015)

Good afternoon,

I'm curious to know what every does to keep their fields lush, weedless, and "poo free" as possible?

I finally bought my own 12 acre farm (Woo hoo! ) and at the moment there's some great grass growth out there but also a good share of weeds. I considered putting out a herbicide, but I wanted to get some opinions first. I also got the soil tested recently and it came out rather decent considering it being left to nature. 

Finally, the dreaded poo question! Right now, I've been leasing 5 acres and rotating pastures weekly and scooping up the poo by hand. I would have no problem continuing that plan of action...but five acres and twelve acres are a tad different! :shock:


----------



## sjharris53 (Jan 31, 2010)

Congratulations on your farm! 

First of all, no one would describe my pastures as being lush or weed free! We have about 4 acres in pasture, divided into two sections, plus a track, a la Paradise Paddock style. Depending on how quickly the grass grows, my two horses spend anywhere from 1-2 weeks on a section, with time on the track when both sections need more growing/recovery time. Since the pastures are only a couple of acres, I do poop scoop every few days. If I had twelve acres, I don't know that I would be so diligent or even remove it at all. With the smaller acreage, removing poop helps with more of the grass being grazed, even though my two do tend to use the same spots over and over. After the poop I've removed dries out, I use my manure spreader and put it out either on the pastures or our large lawn.

As for weed control, DH bush hogs once or twice a year, and we only resort to chemical week application once a year at most. Our pasture contains a variety of grasses and weeds, which IMHO, is not a bad thing as it gives the horses choices of forage. I tend to think too much chemical fertilizer/week killers aren't the best thing for the soil.


----------



## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I drag the manure with a quad and old box spring from a bed. (cover is burned off). In a day or two I'll go over it with a riding mower with a bagger. The mower picks up the now dry manure and bags it.


----------



## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

A University Extension service webinar I saw recently said the two most important things you can do for your pasture are to maintain a sacrifice area and to mow frequently.


----------



## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Organic matter is your friend. Drag the manure to break it up, and let the microbes, worms and bugs turn it into fertilizer for you. 

Divide your pasture into rotational sections, to keep the horses from grazing too closely. 

Mow the weeds before they set seed heads, or spot spray, but I prefer not to broadcast herbicides for the health of my horses and myself. 

I over seeded my pastures with lespedeza, which is a legume that does not require a lot of supplemental fertilization. My horses are doing wonderfully on this. I keep them in during the day, and turn them out at night to graze.


----------



## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Big congratulations!! 

Do the horses have the entire 12 acres? How many horses are on it?

You shouldn't have to do pooper scooping on 12 acres.

You also won't need herbicide if you keep it bush hogged. 12 acres is not a job for a lawn tractor. If you can't afford a small farm tractor and six foot bush hog, pay someone to cut the pasture 2-3 times during mowing season. Folks charge by the acre where I live. I don't know the going rate as we have our own tractor and bush hog.

We have been here 12 years and put 2-4-D on the pastures once; that was the year we came out of "exceptional drought" status, in 2009, and I didn't think we would ever see grass again.

We will have to put 2-4-D down this Fall, due to ground cover weeds that have spread like crazy the last few years. We have 23 acres, are down to two horses, and we bush hog 3-4 times a season. The horses aren't lacking for grass

Do fence off a sick bay yard and attach your sacrifice area to your barn in the form of a huge paddock.


----------



## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

We're in Australia and have 12.5 hectares of pasture (about 30 acres) in a beef grazing area. We have it divided into two 2 hectare fields and an 8.5 hectare area. We graze mostly cattle, plus four horses and three donkeys. We rotate the animals through the three different areas, which helps keep the pasture producing at peak and suppresses excessive spread of weeds (which BTW are to a significant extent a good thing for horses, as poorer, coarser forage is better for them than high-quality, lush pasture for fattening cattle that sets horses up for laminitis and metabolic disorders), and it helps break the parasite cycle. Having some cattle co-grazing with horses at all times is good for the pasture, and for the horses' health. (There are few parasites common to horses and ruminants in our area, so not an issue if you worm the horses regularly.)

Occasionally we lock a paddock up and cut it for hay, but mostly, good grazing management is what keeps your paddocks in good condition. If you don't understock and you rotationally crash graze, you don't need to cut hay, or mow, etc. Of course, don't overstock it either or you'll damage the pasture.

Manure is managed mostly by dung beetles here - they break it up, and it helps fertilise the soil. Sometimes, we steal some to make compost for our garden - especially in winter, when dung beetles are inactive. Our pasture is managed according to organic farming principles and we don't use synthetic fertilisers or broad-scale chemical treatments. Because we don't use superphosphate, we have wonderful soil biota including lots of fungi. Our cattle have mineral blocks to lick and do well with them, and the horses get mineral mix in their bucket feeds.

We've planted over 5000 trees and shrubs in shelter belts and shade clumps across the pasture in the five years since buying our place, and are continuing to create areas like this. The results are pretty nice for the stock, for the wildlife (masses of habitat for birds and insects), for the productivity of the pasture, and just to look at:





















Summer scene next to a four-year-old shelter belt (which contains fodder trees in the mix):











Co-grazing our different herbivores:











Tagasaste (tree lucerne) hedge:









Super fodder for our summer feed gap, but the animals like it throughout the year. Very palatable and nutritious and fast-growing, but you need fairly sandy soils to grow it.


----------



## windsong (Aug 9, 2015)

*type of grass ?*

I have 10 acres of mostly woods. This winter I am having about 5 acres cleared for pasture and need to know what type of grasses I should plant. Any ideas for me? I currently have my horses on another 12 acres (divided into 2 fields). This acreage is about 5 minutes from my house and I'd really like to bring them closer, which is why I'm clearing...


----------



## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

if the weeds get really bad, like this year, the pasture will get harrowed , it seems to pull up the weeds as it spreads and breaks up the manure. Hopefully we will get enough rain this year to dissolve the manure /leach into the ground . The small amount of rain we have had, seems to have sprouted tumble weeds . If needed in the spring, we will spray 2 4 D . and fertilize.

You can find a county ag extension. controller who could tell you what grows best in your area. Or, if you see a nice pasture go ask what type of grass they have.


----------



## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Windsong, if you can get a load of old hay this is a good time of year to scatter it in flakes on top of the soil. The hay will protect the seeds that fall through and keep it moist. Seeds will be falling even while you handle the hay. The hay will eventually break down and improve the soil. Ideally keep the horses off the first year. If you can't, the grass should be at least tall enough to cut with a lawnmower - 4". Otherwise the roots get ripped out.


----------



## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

windsong said:


> I need to know what type of grasses I should plant.


According to the same webinar I referenced earlier in the thread, it's important to find seed for pasture, not lawn. So you won't be finding what you need at WalMart or Home Depot.

Bluegrass has the advantage of being the champion of handling heavy grazing. Perennial ryegrass is also good but will not tolerate drought. Orchardgrass is another good one for heavy grazing. In my pastures, red clover seems to persist through challenging conditions.

If your area is wet, reed canarygrass is a good choice.

One of the problems with pasture mixes is most of them have a high percentage of timothy, which is ok if you want to take a hay crop off in June but otherwise not as good a choice as the others.

If you talk to your local extension service, try to find someone who knows something about horses. If you are too successful with your pasture, you'll end up needing to use grazing muzzles to keep your horses from getting obese. I guess that's what you would call a nice problem to have.


----------



## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Yes, you want to go to Southern States or another farm supply for pasture seed. Intense rotation is the best way to ensure good grazing. The more organic matter you have, the better off you are.....
If you have clay soil, the clay structure is made of flat plates. This is why it gets slick when wet. 
Sand structure is like the ball pit at Chuck E. Cheese. That is why the water runs quickly through it at the beach.

It would seem that to loosen clay, you would add sand, but that makes bricks. The sand particles are a LOT larger than than the clay, and cannot slide in between. 

It takes organic matter, which GROWS fungus, to combine them. The fungus grows in between the particles, and holds them together. It ABSORBS the water, instead of it running through, and ThAT invites the seeds to sprout, and seeds sprout roots, which push through and allow the water to go deeper into the soil, which allows the fungus to go deeper.....etc.

And THAT is why you do not want to spray all those hormonal weed killers on your soil. They kill Everything, including the fungus, which is exactly what is making your grass grow.


----------



## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

It was recommended that I overseed with fall rye. Horses don't touch it until well into autumn, more natural pasture rotation.


----------

