# Has anyone ever turned a lot into pasture?



## MsCuriosity (Apr 20, 2015)

I'm looking for advice, stories and tips on what it took to turn a random lot into a quality pasture. I'm currently looking for land for a little horse homestead and go back and forth between buying something that's already suitable, with pasture and such, or (for the same price point) buying more land that I may have to clear and make pasture from. 

Basically, has anyone ever turned a forest or scrub lot into a pasture? I'd love to hear good and bad experiences. :wink:


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

If you have the time and money it can work really well. The biggest issues I have seen are that many are not willing to give the new pasture time to establish and over stocking. They also don't think about judiciously adding trees for shade and working out a good arrangement for electric,water or shelter. Have someone knowledgeable with you to help evaluate any property you are thinking of buying and converting.


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

Would you need to purchase irrigation rights to make a pasture? Your locale says SW desert and No. Cal. Parts of North Cali I can see getting marginal pasture without irrigation, but certainly not the desert of the SW! 
I would first look into how much irrigation rights cost (if you need them) and go from there. I looked into it for my 4.2 acres and it was just not feasible. Instead I turned my sage steppe lot into a paddock paradise with some VERY limited use dryland pasture in the center. Limited use as in, they get to wander and pick at it for a few hours once or twice a month.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

1) Water.. you need to figure out how to get it irrigated and the cost per acre foot .
2) what type of irrigation line ? hard line ,under ground with sprinkler risers ? or portable lines ? that you have to set up and move ? 
3) what grass is best for the climate zone . 
4) Price of the seed, it is not cheap . 
I ripped the ground first , then we disced, added nutrients, watered, weeds came up, disced again. did this a few times until the major amount of weeds stopped popping up. 
disced , drug to break up the big clots of dirt and get a smooth planted surface , broadcast spread per recommendations on the type of seed, drug a screen so the seeds got covered, watered. fertilized . let the grass grow tall, mowed, did this 3 times , before letting the horses loose. NOW because of the drought, we still have a little bit grass left, one pasture got ate down to almost nothing if we get rain this year and it comes back and is not total weeds it will totally shock me.


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## MsCuriosity (Apr 20, 2015)

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I'm looking for land in N.California or S. Oregon. There are a lot of coniferous tress on the properties I'm viewing and I know it'd be a task... just trying to see if it's worth it. It seems all the pretty lots on a creek or something need cleared. Other lots, good land with pasture, have nothing but the fields. :-/ 


stevenson said:


> 1) Water.. you need to figure out how to get it irrigated and the cost per acre foot .
> 2) what type of irrigation line ? hard line ,under ground with sprinkler risers ? or portable lines ? that you have to set up and move ?
> 3) what grass is best for the climate zone .
> 4) Price of the seed, it is not cheap .
> ...


This... sounds like a trial. I really hope your pasture comes back with a low weed ratio.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

I'll add this as well if you are clearing there is a lot of dirt work to do leveling it all out once stumps are removed. If the stumps are cut below grade and covered you then have the issue of stump holes. This is our issue even though we cleared stump and all. Years before it had been clear cut. Not a problem with a small forest there but after clearing for pasture we have several holes a year open up. Some big enough for a person and much deeper than my head.


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## windsong (Aug 9, 2015)

QtrBel said:


> This is our issue even though we cleared stump and all. Years before it had been clear cut. Not a problem with a small forest there but after clearing for pasture we have several holes a year open up. Some big enough for a person and much deeper than my head.


So, I'm curious.... How big were your trees? I have 10 wooded acres that I'm wanting to turn into about 1/2 pasture. I am looking at having the trees excavated (most are cedar and locust trees less than 12 inches in diameter). Never even thought about HOLES! Yikes.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

I would leave some trees for shade and wind breaks. and Privacy on the edges of the pasture.
Depending on the shape of the lot, you can see which way the trees shade in late afternoon when it is at its hottest. 
If you end up with holes from tree removal,,see if you can someone getting rid of fill dirt. If you cannot find any, just keep disking and the drag the loose dirt around until the holes fill in. 
be sure to leave a sacrifice area where you put the water trough and any feed it will also give the horses a place to roll around in the dirt.


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

MsCuriosity said:


> I'm looking for land in N.California or S. Oregon. There are a lot of coniferous tress on the properties I'm viewing.


Every inch of the farm on which I grew up was once covered with large conifers. Much of it was cleared 80 years ago with a crosscut saw and team of horses. The process continued for decades. As a child I remember what seemed like long boring hours of walking behind a tractor picking up sticks and throwing them on the trailer.

today it is very fertile land and produces high quality hay and pasture.

If you buy a place with timber you might be able to get someone to log it. If there is enough valuable lumber you might even be able to make a deal to have all the slash hauled or burned at no cost to you (Other than the contempt of your new neighbors, who were hoping the new arrivals would leave all the land in forest.)

If you do nothing but mow regularly to control the early thistles and mullens, the native grass will eventually establish itself. That means you need a tractor and brush hog ready to go when those trees come off.

A lot of hay in that area is being shipped to Asia, so prices are high. Are you sure you wouldn't rather have some of that "good land with pasture, nothing but the fields"?


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

You might also want to ask Extension service about tips on silviculture. May be able to have trees AND pasture. It's a really neat system that works pretty well in that area.


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## MsCuriosity (Apr 20, 2015)

Once again, thanks a ton for all the advice. I'm teetering on wooded vs pasture now but have decided my land must have some existing pasture so I can slowly deforest little parts as I expand my stables. 

I'd never take out all the trees as I love the look of a forest, too. That's why I'm going to pass on the 'all pasture, no trees' look. It'd take a decade to establish my own trees...


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

My land was timbered in the 40's. Much had regrown when I bo't the place. There was enough grass on a few acres to support one horse over the summer. As more fencing was added the quality of the grass improved, thanks to the seeds from big round bales blowing about. Often, in spring I'll drag the pasture with an old bed box spring and the quad to break up the winter mess then in a few days, while the ground is damp a small set of harrows. While harrowing I'll toss out a small handful of hay seed where the harrows have scratched the ground. In about 10 days the new growth is visible. Cost of seed from a feed outlet - about $4 for about 4 lbs.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Windsong, the original cut was old growth forest(Hardwood/Pine). Some of the larger trees and younger, smaller groupings were left and depending on variety now range from 2 to 4 over feet. The trees removed were cut at grade. As this the low point for drainage, soils washed to our acreage and pasture was established quickly. 30 years later animals were removed and a citrus grove established in part and pine plantation on another part. The citrus was cut to the ground about 25 years later in the 70's. Pines were selectively cut. Because of the tenacity and spread of the citrus root stock it was abandoned. We cleared 8 acres, pushing and burning. We also took out increasing swaths of under growth on the remaining acreage and then started rotational burns. Because this is where all surrounding land drains we have a couple of spots where soil collects so we put in silt fencing until a berm was built up. Now we use those spots as our source for soil to fill the holes as they open.


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