Making pasture from clear cut forest.

[Petercoates87]

Hey Guys. Just wondering has anyone ever made a pasture from a clear cut forest? We have roughly 3 Acres of forest we have recently clear cut just around the beginning of covid. I had the intentions of getting it then cleared with an excavator to set in hay for hay ground/pasture. Of course since then the price of getting the land cleared of stumps and rocks have almost doubled in my area. It's just not quite feasible at this time now to do this but I wanted to set it with hay seed so I could use it as just pasture instead. So I'm asking to know if anyone has done this before and what did you do? In my head I'm thinking about spreading some manure (i have a large amount stockpiled) and seeding over that. As well I've seen some people covering the seeded area with old hay to keep weeds from growing too. I thought I may do that too. pictures to give you guys an idea of what the ground looks like. these pictures are of some of it.

 

[4hfarms]

I did about 5ac of young forest, feb/March of 2020. I let them graze from day one. I drilled holes in the stumps and kept them full of salt for about 6months. Lime on it that fall and used it for winter hay feeding the last couple of years. It is now useable pasture with a a few stumps that are slowly disintegrating. I ground them short enough to the ground with my chainsaw after the stump died so that I could bush hog over them after the cows were done each time. It's now in the running for useable pasture. I have seen much worse. I doubt I could cut hay from it, but they enjoy it regularly every 25-40 days.
Maybe some day I'll pay someone too much money to do it right.... maybe not!

 

[Dave]

When I was a kid there was a lot of "stump ranches" around. People had put a fence around it. Cleared off brush, slash, young trees, and tossed out some grass seed. The cows actually help with this process. The last thing to go was the stumps. And this was old growth clear cuts so some of those stump 6-8 feet in diameter. Cows walk around stumps just fine.

 

[4hfarms]

We gathered the wood with the tractor as time allowed and set it in the middle. Burned a larger pile a couple years ago. Was going to burn this one but never got around to it. I now have one of the only farms around that holds rabbits. Delicious in the winter.

 

[Petercoates87]

Cool!!! Now I don't think mine will look as nice as 4hfarms pic but as long as I got an area for my cows to graze that's worth it to me. At the moment I have 3 pigs I'm raising, that I have on a section of this. man they have done a wicked job at killing the shrubs and things that started to regrow and root up old stumps. But the remaining 2ish acres I'm planning on cutting all the brush this winter and by early spring be able to manure it and then seed it. We were offered some spoiled hay and the areas of the pig pen that they had destroyed we spread hay over it to keep weeds growing up and I hope there's some seed left on the hay to hopefully start to seed.

 

[greybeard]

BT.............DT
About 60 acres. You couldn't walk thru the underbrush and even if the brush weren't there the pine and hardwood trees were too thick to drive thru.
Looked like this in the late 90s:




Started in 2008 logging and they left the usual mess.



Yep, had a few piles to burn, and big ones too.


But burn I did..



But, late 2009, I had grass and a few cows on it.


The problem isn't taking land from a forest.....the problem is, the forest always wants it back. Slack off even 1 growing season and it will have it back right under your nose.

 

[Travlr]

When I bought my place in Arkansas the previous owners ran a sawmill, cutting rail road ties. I got the place... and the mill. They'd cleared the top of a hill, including taking out the big stumps, but let it grow small trees after without mowing. Some of the little trees were, maybe, a couple of inches in diameter. Pretty rough on the bush hog. I was actually surprised I didn't break something.

But to the issue of making it into pasture. It's tough to get the stumps out but waiting for them to rot is a long slog. If you can spend a week taking them out with a tractor, even if the week is spent over the course of a year or two, I think you will be money ahead. Even if some are too big. You can always pile your scrap around the biggest ones and burn them down. Do it in the winter with snow on the ground so you can leave them burning without worrying about it spreading. You don't need a roaring fire when a slow smoldering fire will get the job done. And the ash is good for the soil. And spread your manure too. But don't expect to get much seed to germinate in manure. Might be better to spread seed first and then spread some manure lightly on top, especially if you can drag the soil to scarify it a little. Once you have some grass started you can pile more manure on.

 

[Lucky_P]

If you're gonna be drilling holes and pouring stuff in to accelerate stump rotting... urea or ammonium nitrate is the way to go. Nitrogen availability is the 'rate-limiting' factor in decomposition of woody material. Salt will not accelerate decay... though the cows may lick the stumps a lot. I suppose ammonium nitrate application could pose potential risk if cows have access to those stumps.
I've seen Amish/Mennonites back a manure spreader up to large oak stumps, cover them with manure, and within a couple of years, they've rotted enough that they can push or pull them over quite easily.

 

[moses388]

You can always pile your scrap around the biggest ones and burn them down. Do it in the winter with snow on the ground so you can leave them burning without worrying about it spreading.

I have been trying to burn in the winter. I don't have luck burning piles with snow on them. Suggestions?
In regard to the stump salt, I didn't think of stump rotting. I figured it would stop new growth. I think of salt and vinegar as "natural herbicide."

 

[4hfarms]

The salt was to kill the tree roots. Once dead I cut them low to the ground to bush hog over. It decays slowly after its dead. Yes all wild animals use the salt as well as the cows.

 

[greybeard]

On about 12 of those acres, I had a friend with a stump grinder go to work. Cost me about $600 but at least that part, I could run over with a truck or tractor without worrying too much...except there was a hollow everywhere he did some grinding, especially after water got up some and floated all the chips out. (Everywhere I burned and spread out the ash/cinder remains, grass grew like mad! Phos is your friend in E Texas)

 

[Caustic Burno]

Yep I did and old growth that I cut.
Brought a D9 in with a shear blade wind rowed it burned and planted.

This was all timber.

 

[moses388]

Nice tract of green grass and still plenty of shade trees. Room to bale it if desired. Love it.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Yep I did and old growth that I cut.
Brought a D9 in with a shear blade wind rowed it burned and planted.
View attachment 35803
This was all timber.

Yes sir and saw briars.
More views this was all timberland.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

Cool!!! Now I don't think mine will look as nice as 4hfarms pic but as long as I got an area for my cows to graze that's worth it to me. At the moment I have 3 pigs I'm raising, that I have on a section of this. man they have done a wicked job at killing the shrubs and things that started to regrow and root up old stumps. But the remaining 2ish acres I'm planning on cutting all the brush this winter and by early spring be able to manure it and then seed it. We were offered some spoiled hay and the areas of the pig pen that they had destroyed we spread hay over it to keep weeds growing up and I hope there's some seed left on the hay to hopefully start to seed.

View attachment 35781

Love that fence !!!

 

[RustyTub]

Earlier this year I had a dozer clear 2 acres that I sprigged with Ozark bermuda. Timed it just right and bermuda took off real well. A month ago had dozer back to clear appx 10 acres. Lots of burn piles. Neighbor is a firefighter. He's taking the logs to sell for firewood then burning the piles. Plan to fence it off into a couple of small pastures and sprig bermuda again. Google maps still has the before pictures up. I've been trying to get my drone up to get a good pic of the 10 so I can plan pastures and alleys. Havent quite mastered it yet. Should have done this clearing 20 years ago.

 

[BFE]

Cool!!! Now I don't think mine will look as nice as 4hfarms pic but as long as I got an area for my cows to graze that's worth it to me. At the moment I have 3 pigs I'm raising, that I have on a section of this. man they have done a wicked job at killing the shrubs and things that started to regrow and root up old stumps. But the remaining 2ish acres I'm planning on cutting all the brush this winter and by early spring be able to manure it and then seed it. We were offered some spoiled hay and the areas of the pig pen that they had destroyed we spread hay over it to keep weeds growing up and I hope there's some seed left on the hay to hopefully start to seed.

View attachment 35781

Old timers used to sprinkle shelled corn around the stumps, the hogs would eventually root them out. If you're in no hurry, it will do the trick, a hogs snout is a heck of an excavator.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Old timers used to sprinkle shelled corn around the stumps, the hogs would eventually root them out. If you're in no hurry, it will do the trick, a hogs snout is a heck of an excavator.

That's were we got the ideas for a bulldozer and trackhoe.

 

[BadMoonRising]

It's definitely possible and there are great tips here. I'd recommend seeding the prevalent indigenous grass. Around here, it's an invasive species from Mexico. No, Biden wasn't around 1,000 years ago. It's bahia and very hardy. Do you have any bad grasses on or adjacent to your property that need to be cleared first? You can be much more aggressive if not concerned with an extant stand of desirable grass.
Remove the larger stuff as you can. Most of the small stuff isn't going to matter.
That's for grazing. I don't like any stumps in my hayfields, they can be costly on equipment. If I find myself harvesting hay around stumps, I scout the field and try to mark them all. Flags, stakes, forestry tape all work. For most people.
Best wishes

 

[Charbrangus]

I cleared 20 acres that was hay and then planted in pines. Rented and front end loader with a root rake after letting it set for a year. Use it to plant rye on but gras has pretty much taken it over. I used a off set harrow to take the stumps that were left out. They naturally rot after a couple of years. I have another 15 acres that I am doing the same way now.