Custom hillside mowing

[Logan52]

Many years ago (1970s) I mowed my steeper hillsides with a pair of gray mules and an International No. 9 horsedrawn mower. I had good grass on them then, mostly fescue and Jap clover. I struggled for time to get the job done and began to hire them mowed with a Ford 4000 and Ford sickle mower (1980s).
This transitioned to bat wing bush-hogs behind dual wheel 4WD tractors. I could only get them to come in late fall after their more profitable mowing jobs were done. The hills began to sprout sumac and briars, with goldenrod crowding out the grass.
For the last few years the rising cost of fuel and machinery repair has made it almost impossible to get them mowed at any price.
Much of my part of the county is growing up in rose bushes and honeysuckle bushes.
In the 1930s and 1940s these hillsides were all in corn and washed severely. Sowed to fescue, they made pretty good pasture from the 1950s until the early years of the 21st century.
It may be time to just let them go and forget about producing grass on them. Even rough land sells for several thousand an acre as secluded home sites. People build homes on the level ridges and let the hillsides grow up.
Anyone else live somewhere that it is just no longer feasible to produce forage crops for cattle anymore?

 

[chaded]

In my area it is mostly hills with a few bottoms here and there. My place was let go by the previous owners so I have been working to try keep what I have and take back what has grown up in brush.

The briars and whatnot don't bother me as I can take care of them easily but I have sections where Autumn Olive was allowed to grow up and it is not easily managed with a tractor and typical brush mower considering it being on hillsides.

I could hire someone to come in with tracked loaders and mulchers and clean everything up but I am also going to have to spray and mow and really keep on it or it will be right back to where it was.

The other option I've considered is to get the rest of my fencing done and put sheep and/or goats in and use the stuff as forage. Money in it either way you look at it.

They use to keep things clean from that years ago (I have pictures) but it seems their method was to overstock livestock on the pastures, feed hay from the bottomland, and mow.

 

[Ebenezer]

Spray and skip mowing. Better money spent and less time, too.

 

[Ky hills]

I let one small section across a branch grow up, I had a calf fall over and break a leg on a cliff like wash out where a big culvert under the state road comes through. I had the hillside fenced off, it could be mowed by somebody that was good on a tractor and nervy enough to tackle it. It was steep and came out to a point on one end and now way to turn. Had to pull in and back up. It was by a sharp curve on a hill too and vehicles were always running off the road through the fence so fencing cattle out of there eliminated that problem of having to always be worried about cattle getting out on the highway. That's still always a worry with all the road frontage fences but the rest is easier to access.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

In my area it is mostly hills with a few bottoms here and there. My place was let go by the previous owners so I have been working to try keep what I have and take back what has grown up in brush.

The briars and whatnot don't bother me as I can take care of them easily but I have sections where Autumn Olive was allowed to grow up and it is not easily managed with a tractor and typical brush mower considering it being on hillsides.

I could hire someone to come in with tracked loaders and mulchers and clean everything up but I am also going to have to spray and mow and really keep on it or it will be right back to where it was.

The other option I've considered is to get the rest of my fencing done and put sheep and/or goats in and use the stuff as forage. Money in it either way you look at it.

They use to keep things clean from that years ago (I have pictures) but it seems their method was to overstock livestock on the pastures, feed hay from the bottomland, and mow.

Hello,

Let's see....SE Ohio, Autumn Olive.....You wouldn't happen to reside in Belmont or Monroe county? I'm making a guess here, but I'm very familiar with your autumn olive issues. I see that you are constructing fence as well as addressing brush issues. SE Ohio is my 'stomping' grounds and I have worked with many producers to develop grazing plans throughout the area. There is a possibility I already know you. However, the Natural Resource Conservation Service within the United States Department of Agriculture can assist you in planning, designing and implementing grazing systems. Contact your local District Conservationist with the NRCS for more information. As you are in SE Ohio, your DC could even contact me (I'm a NRCS Grazing Specialist) and I would be happy to come to your farm and assist you with YOUR plans and ideas, and assist you in applying for USDA - NRCS assistance.

 

[Logan52]

Some of our worst invasive species, Osage Orange, Multi-Flora Rose, and Autumn Olive, were once promoted by the soil conservation and extension service as living fences or wildlife habitat. Autumn Olive got a start on my farm from a package of seedlings I set out on rough ground above a pond in 1978.
Canadian thistles or nodding thistles were the scourge of the more fertile pastures for 30 years but now are about gone. Musk thistles are still around but no real problem.
The real problem now is the yellow buttercup that blooms in April and May. In early May pastures around here turn bright yellow for as far as the eye can see. Ten years ago I had never seen this plant at all. My wife works at the local soil conservation district and they rent spray rigs and help pay for 24-D to combat this weed. It is hard to eliminate on pastures that get a lot of traffic in wet winter conditions.
I wish spraying was an option on some of my steeper pastures, fertile siltstone soil prone to slipping in wet weather. I do not know of a spray rig that could stat upright on most of them.

 

[Otha]

Some of our worst invasive species, Osage Orange, Multi-Flora Rose, and Autumn Olive, were once promoted by the soil conservation and extension service as living fences or wildlife habitat. Autumn Olive got a start on my farm from a package of seedlings I set out on rough ground above a pond in 1978.
Canadian thistles or nodding thistles were the scourge of the more fertile pastures for 30 years but now are about gone. Musk thistles are still around but no real problem.
The real problem now is the yellow buttercup that blooms in April and May. In early May pastures around here turn bright yellow for as far as the eye can see. Ten years ago I had never seen this plant at all. My wife works at the local soil conservation district and they rent spray rigs and help pay for 24-D to combat this weed. It is hard to eliminate on pastures that get a lot of traffic in wet winter conditions.
I wish spraying was an option on some of my steeper pastures, fertile siltstone soil prone to slipping in wet weather. I do not know of a spray rig that could stat upright on most of them.

Anyone in your area started to use drones to spray row crops? I haven't seen any in my area, not much row crop here. But I have been seeing them alot on Social media in certain areas. That would be one way to spray the weeds and maybe some brush on those steep hill sides.