Help. We just bought a 20 acre farm which has 11 tillable acres. The tillable acres are on a slope. It appears that it was originally contoured farmed with corn and another crop(s). Currently, it consists of knee-high weeds. We eventually want to turn the fields into pasture for grazing (goats and/or sheep) but realistically, will most likely not have any livestock this year because we need to use our time and financial resources to get the house livable.

The local soil conservation service recommends no-till planting with application of Round-Up (herbicide). Is there a non-herbicide/non-toxic chemical alternative to this?

We also do not have any equipment at this time (e.g. tractor). What do people do in this situation- do you hire a local farmer to do this for you or can you broardcast seed by hand?

Thanks for any help.

Kelly Przylepa

-- Kelly Przylepa (rmoore@bcpl.net), April 06, 2001

Answers

I'm not sure how feasible this is but one thing that can really help a pasture grow nice grass is to keep it mowed. If you have a riding lawn mower, try mowing it a couple of times a month. We have been doing this to our pastures and can't believe the difference. By mowing, you give the grass an equal chance and it eventually screens out the weeds. We also let our neighbor use our pastures as back up for theirs so periodically throughout the summer they put their horse in the pasture. By mowing the grass it keeps nice tender green shoots available for the horses which they like. The only money it costs is the gasoline for the mower and of course your time but we found this was a realistic alternative for us and it is working very well. I never thought our weedy pastures would end up looking so nice.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), April 06, 2001.

The alternatives are to use conventional tillage, which of course will expose the ground to washing with heavy rains. Be reminded that those knee high weeds probably all went to seed, so you will have a tough row to hoe (pun intended).

With conventional tillage have someone prepare the ground, then plant a cover crop of some kind such as sorghum. Allow this to mature. Next year have someone with a no-till seeder come in and plant the grass seed into the standing stubble of the sorghum. This is pretty much SOP for planting CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) ground/grass.

Chemical tillage is preferred as a method that will produce less weeds in the grass. I certainly will not try to talk you out of the use of chemicals, but to let you know, Roundup is on the lower scale of handling dangers and toxicity. After all, they let anyone in the city that is not trained as a chemical applicator to use it on their lawns and lots.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), April 06, 2001.

Just keep the brush down somehow until you are ready to re-seed. Contract a custom operator to brush hog a couple of times during the year. This will let whatever grass is there to continue growing.

It seems to me that herbicide application has to be bad for soil conservation - leaving bare soil to erode. Maybe I'm missing something.

We tried maintaining a 1/2 - 1 acre pasture with a riding mower at our previous residence, and would not recommend it - way too time consuming and bad for the mower.

-- David C (fleece@eritter.net), April 06, 2001.

David, the use of chemicals is to stop or prevent growth without disturbing what organic matter is already in place. The organic matter shades the ground which helps to prevent weed growth, and the taller material helps to stop wind erosion as well as drying the ground, thereby conserving moisture.

In Western Kansas, chemicals, i.e. no-till, minimum tillage, aka trash farming, can mean the difference between harvesting a crop and having nothing to harvest. Before anyone suggests alternative crops, there are only so many that will work to produce the desired livestock feed or grain. Preserving the organic matter through chemical tillage instead of conventional tillage also improves the soils tilth. Think of the Ruth Stout method of gardening.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), April 06, 2001.

I disagree heartily with using herbicides on anything.. Mowing it..or having it moved is a good idea. Then have it tilled and planted with an aggressive cover crop the first year...possibly a green manure crop. Then till that under and plant your grazing mix. Herbicides do nothing to replenish the earth...they just add to the pollution of it. Go to the Rodale Institute site for some ideas. Enjoy your life.

-- Deborah (bearwaoman@Yahoo.com), April 07, 2001.

I copied this from the Rodale Institute, might help:

Cover crops: Just like farmers, soil needs a break now and then. That’s where cover crops come in. We think of them as vacations for hardworking land.

Cover crops are simply crops we plant to help rejuvenate the soil when we’re between production crops. We also use them in the off- season, and sometimes we even let them fill in between rows alongside our regular production crops. “Our farm’s tendency is to return to woodland. Rather than fight that using herbicides, we work with nature. We just help it select which plants to grow,” explains Jeff.

We don’t harvest our cover crops and we don’t make money from them, something that scares a lot of folks. “A lot of farmers resist cover crops because they think it’ll put part of their land out of commission for a whole season, but that’s not true. We use them and still get a marketable crop off every field every year,” says Jeff.

How do we know what to plant? We pick cover crops that add nitrogen to the soil, feed benevolent microbes, and soak up nutrients that would otherwise leach from our system. We use different crops for different purposes-and we’re constantly experimenting and tinkering with our methods-but a few of our favorites are:

Hairy vetch: A legume (like beans) that adds nitrogen to soil-kind of like a living fertilizer.

Rye: A great “sponge crop” with extensive roots that help recover nutrients that would otherwise seep out of our fields.

Buckwheat: Our favorite for weed control. Buckwheat releases chemicals that prevent weeds from germinating.

When it’s time for the next planting, we simply plow our cover crops under and get back to work. Vacation over.

-- Deborah (bearwaoman@Yahoo.com), April 07, 2001.

Two things come to mind. At the ranch I work at the owner had a bare area in her pasture were the horses had worn it bare so she put out a bale or 2 of seedy wheat hay [oat would work to] and let the horses fed off it and trample it into the soil and now it is covered again, you could just throw it around and stomp on it if you have no animals. or bring in horse manure and start spreadeng across soil [ you can get free horse manure from most horse boarding farms. Better yet do both. I also remember a artical were you use worms to redo pastures, seems if I remember right you built mini compost areas for them to live in in diferent areas in pastures. maybe some one else read it to and can remember more.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), April 07, 2001.

We have disked our pasture areas and broadcast a "hayland blend" with good results. It was previously mentioned to brushhog the areas not being pastured a couple times a year, which will also preserve pastureland once established.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 08, 2001.

Without reading all the other responses, I wouuld reccomend that you burn it off. If you are not going to make hay you can live with what is already gorowing, sheep and/or goats will take care of the rest and they will clean up blackberries it they are a problem, burdock is another problem. I use to burn off my fields every spring when the snow still laid in the ditches. Mowing is a better way to do it but butning take little or no equipment.

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), April 08, 2001.

Goats are browsers, sheep are grazers and unless there are varieties of "weeds" in the pastures that are poisonous to either, the sheep & goats will do fine there. After the pasture is eaten down (rotate the grazing of the pastures!) you can broadcast a pasture mix. We burn in the spring if the dead grass is too thick to let the new growth through, then hand broadcast the seed. Good luck!

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), April 09, 2001.

We brought neglected pastures back to life on our rocky Ozark acres with the use of sheep...they ate weeds,cleared the fencelines and fertilized at the same time. We paid to have the fields brush-hogged twice before we could get a tractor and mower ourselves. We also invested in lime as the poverty grass indicates a low level of this but our actual soil tests were pretty good...only thing we lacked is organic matter. Planted buckwheat on one field and it is so much nicer now...easily rototilled with our rotovator. If there is grass there it will come back if you keep the weeds mowed. Also helps to have several species of livestock grazing as cows/horses/sheep all eat grass at different levels. DEE

-- Diana R.Smith (mutti66@hotmail.com), April 09, 2001.

You don't say what area of the country you are in, but chances are kentucky 31 fescue will grow there. The farm coopeative will no-till the fescue in for you or some local resident will. it's best to have the weeds cut before this is done but not crucial. No need to kill the weeds as the goats will do that when you get them.

-- Bill (wah@tnweb.com), April 13, 2001.

green concrete

-- Peter Przylepa (przylepa@erols.com), September 03, 2001.