Liming poor pasture

[lead_dog]

I'm doing the first liming next week on a pasture we're renovating. The average ph is 5.5 right now. On one 20 acre side which was formerly planted in winter annuals but has been abandoned for 10 years or so, there are a lot of weeds, with a big stand of broomsedge bluestem.

I know the rule of thumb is 1 ton of lime per acre, but am I better off adding 2 tons to this side to help neutralize the acidity? Or is it better to do a ton now, and another ton in the spring or so?

 

[dun]

What does the soil sample results recommend? Anything over a 2 ton and I prefer to do it in 2 applications. But I've seen a lot of fields that called for a lot more then 2 tons and after a year the 2 tons I appoliede had already brought it up to 6 plus.

 

[lead_dog]

here's the soil test

 

[bigbull338]

with a soil ph of 5.4.you want the soil ph at 6.8.so your looking at putting atlest 2 tons of lime to the ac to get it to 6.8ph.

 

[dun]

here's the soil test

Interesting. Ours give the recommended amounts of the various components and lime so you cna figure out how you want to apply it.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I'm doing the first liming next week on a pasture we're renovating. The average ph is 5.5 right now.

Depends on what quality of lime (some is more reactive than others) and what you are planting (alfalfa needs more than clover which needs more than grass).

 

[lead_dog]

My pasture is divided into two fields. The one on the right is the one I'm most concerned with correcting and removing the weeds/broomsedge, dog fennel, etc. I just cut it low yesterday, plan to lime it this week and then just plant ryegrass (probably Passerl) right now. My thought was that if I get the ryegrass in it can grow quickly and shade out some of the weeds. This pasture was tilled and planted in winter wheat by the former owner, until abandoned 8-10 years ago, hence all the weeds and grass mix.

In the other pasture (a good sod of OLD fescue and bermuda), I want to drill in Durana clover to balance the fescue and bermuda.

I'm guessing that I should just put down 1 ton per acre now, test in the spring and then at least apply another ton on the right field then.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Lime is one of the cheapest and best investments you can make. It is atsronomical the difference in the effiency the grass has in uptake of nutrients.

 

[Stocker Steve]

My pasture is divided into two fields. The one on the right is the one I'm most concerned with correcting and removing the weeds/broomsedge, dog fennel, etc. I just cut it low yesterday, plan to lime it this week and then just plant ryegrass (probably Passerl) right now.

I'm guessing that I should just put down 1 ton per acre now, test in the spring and then at least apply another ton on the right field then.

Increasing ph will reduce some types of weeds. It takes a while for the lime to react with the soil. Usually folks applying it the year before they seed legumes.

 

[TheLazyM]

Lime is one of the cheapest and best investments you can make. It is atsronomical the difference in the effiency the grass has in uptake of nutrients.

Amen. No matter what they comeout with there will never be anyone thing that'll make the inpact that lime does. Just about every additive and the growing cycle of forage lowers the ph in the soil.

 

[dun]

If the field is rough, rocky or in some way there is something that keeps you from being able to drive at a decent speed acrossed it, now would be the time to address those problems. After the grass gets growing well you never want to do anything that will tear it up again. Spend the fall getting it in good shape to grow grass, then do a soil test, add lime and maybe a fast growing winter annual. In the spring seed it with a good forage mix and control the weeds. It's pricey, but if there isn;t much grass now, a friendly endophyte fescue would be hard to beat. After the first year when the annual weeds are under control frost seed clover. The reason for waiting on the clover is you may want to spray with a broadleaf herbicide and there's no reason to plant clover and then kill it with heribicide so that you have to replant it.

 

[Jogeephus]

If the field is rough, rocky or in some way there is something that keeps you from being able to drive at a decent speed acrossed it, now would be the time to address those problems. After the grass gets growing well you never want to do anything that will tear it up again. Spend the fall getting it in good shape to grow grass, then do a soil test, add lime and maybe a fast growing winter annual. In the spring seed it with a good forage mix and control the weeds. It's pricey, but if there isn;t much grass now, a friendly endophyte fescue would be hard to beat. After the first year when the annual weeds are under control frost seed clover. The reason for waiting on the clover is you may want to spray with a broadleaf herbicide and there's no reason to plant clover and then kill it with heribicide so that you have to replant it.

Good point. The foundation of your herd is built on the soil.. Best get everything right there before you do much else.

 

[dun]

If the field is rough, rocky or in some way there is something that keeps you from being able to drive at a decent speed acrossed it, now would be the time to address those problems. After the grass gets growing well you never want to do anything that will tear it up again. Spend the fall getting it in good shape to grow grass, then do a soil test, add lime and maybe a fast growing winter annual. In the spring seed it with a good forage mix and control the weeds. It's pricey, but if there isn;t much grass now, a friendly endophyte fescue would be hard to beat. After the first year when the annual weeds are under control frost seed clover. The reason for waiting on the clover is you may want to spray with a broadleaf herbicide and there's no reason to plant clover and then kill it with heribicide so that you have to replant it.

Good point. The foundation of your herd is built on the soil.. Best get everything right there before you do much else.

If you want to see what happens when a field is cleared but the rocks, stumps and staubs aren;t cleared before it's planted to grass, stop by, it's a real beauty.

 

[lead_dog]

If the field is rough, rocky or in some way there is something that keeps you from being able to drive at a decent speed acrossed it, now would be the time to address those problems. After the grass gets growing well you never want to do anything that will tear it up again. Spend the fall getting it in good shape to grow grass, then do a soil test, add lime and maybe a fast growing winter annual. In the spring seed it with a good forage mix and control the weeds. It's pricey, but if there isn;t much grass now, a friendly endophyte fescue would be hard to beat. After the first year when the annual weeds are under control frost seed clover. The reason for waiting on the clover is you may want to spray with a broadleaf herbicide and there's no reason to plant clover and then kill it with heribicide so that you have to replant it.

That's good advice, and mostly what I'm doing. I bush hogged everything as low as I could this weekend, and spent another weekend picking up large rocks. They're pretty much all gone now.

The pasture is reasonably smooth...they're are a number of gulleys in it that I now plan to fill in as best I can. Here's a picture of what the fescue side looks like.

After I fill those in, the plan is to lime within the next week and plant Passerel on the other side to allow winter grazing and to shade out weeds. I was planning on no-tilling in durana on this fescue side...if we ever get rain.

 

[alabama]

Go ahead and put out the two tons now.