Neglected Pasture/Hay Field Help Needed

[Ebenezer]

Lime spread here for about $47/ton. But you have to pay to play!

 

[Rajela]

$35/ton spread here. If you do decide to use herbicides, remember that Grazon kills good seeds with the bad seeds.

Grazon kills seeds???

 

[dun]

$35/ton spread here. If you do decide to use herbicides, remember that Grazon kills good seeds with the bad seeds.

Grazon kills seeds???

I'm not sure exactly at what point it works. It may prevent germination or it may just kill the plant when it germinates. Whichever it does it prevents new plants from growing (maybe sprouting). That's what the residual affect of Grazon is.

 

[JMJ Farms]

$35/ton spread here. If you do decide to use herbicides, remember that Grazon kills good seeds with the bad seeds.

Grazon kills seeds???

I'm not sure exactly at what point it works. It may prevent germination or it may just kill the plant when it germinates. Whichever it does it prevents new plants from growing (maybe sprouting). That's what the residual affect of Grazon is.

That's correct. It actually kills them after they germinate or resprout.

 

[kenny thomas]

The reason for the cheap lime in his area is that the lime produced there is a byproduct from a zinc mine. It has to be disposed of somehow so it works well for the surrounding area. Best thing is the test show it is a very good lime that on a scale of 100 tests about 120. Also has some magnesium in it that helps us in this area. The mining process breaks it down pretty fine so it works fast also.
ClinchValley, if I can be of help just yell. Heck if you have been around any of the cattle markets in the area much you probably know me. No matter what you do you need a soil test because of the soil types that are in that area. It can be good soil or very poor in just a few miles apart.

 

[RoppFamilyFarm]

Do you have a local fertilizer Co-Op nearby? Cenex, Wilbur-Ellis, Crop Production, etc? You can get ahold of one and they will send out a field man to come look over the property with you and do some soil samples and get a plan laid out with you. Most of them do this for free as long as you buy fertilizer/Chemicals from them. This would help you build a good plan as far as the Nutrients would go.

2-4D will help control most of the weeds and should not harm the Clover (depending on the variety, most common varieties are not effected by 24D). If you use something like Weedmaster with the active ingredient of Dicamba, that will kill your clover. The only issue with 24D is that it will carry over in the Hay and manure. So if you plan to bale and sell the hay, or use the cattle manure from cattle that eats the grass or hay that was sprayed, as compost, this will not bode well for your garden plants :)

I definitely do not live in nor have lived in Tennessee, but I do live on a Big Grass Seed Farm in the Willamette Valley OR (Grass seed capital of the World) and have done this a few times myself.

Pick a field to start with and pull all the cattle off. Start with spraying all the weeds this spring with a good 24D Mix. I would then spot spray as needed until you can take a cutting of hay off. I would then continue to spot spray over the summer and try and get the weeds under as much control as possible. Then this fall get your soil tested, get a plan set up with you local Co-Op on Fertilizer/Lime/Whatever is needed. Mow you pasture down as short as you can. Then get a broadcast spreader and overseed, Fescue/Ryegrass/ whatever grows well in your climate, and apply the fall fertilizer. This will give you good growth over the winter without having to water. Then Apply a spring Fertilizer/Lime(whatever your soil plan calls for). By mid-Spring 2017, you should have a nice clean pasture, with nice new growth for you to take hay off, or pasture your cattle on(since cattle have been pulled off this field since spring of 2016). I would also continue to spot spray with the spring growth any new weeds that would pop up(and again in the fall), but since you did not till the ground, and you sprayed well the previous spring/fall, you should have a pretty clean field.

1 Field down. Pick another field and repeat.

If you have a piece that is just too far gone to weeds and the grass is very thin it would probably be best to spray that piece out with a Good Roundup & 24D(kill all) Mixture in the spring followed by Mowing it down as short as you can. Continue to spot spray over the summer so that by early fall you have not a green plant alive in that field. If you can burn, that would be best, but I know that in some areas in the country that is getting hard to do(thanks environmentalists). At this point if you have the option to No-Till in new Grass seed/Clover Mix I would. This way you are not disturbing the soil and bringing up new weeds. If not, work up the ground and plant. I would then Follow the Fertilizer/Lime/Spraying plan in the spring that I mentioned above. The only other issue would be that if you worked up the ground you would not be able to put cattle into that field until summer of '17, or they will just tear it up. If you can no-till then you can get them back into the field much earlier.

I'm not claiming to be an expert, but i have been in this same situation and this is what has been successful for every field that I have re-claimed. My Best advice is to just take a small chunk at a time and get it back into production. Slow and steady wins the race.

Sorry if I rambled. I am good at visiting with people in person, just not always good at putting it on paper.

 

[littletom]

You say you have 30 acres wooded. Have you considered selling some timber to fund fixing the farm? Good luck on your project it will work out, and be worth it.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

The reason for the cheap lime in his area is that the lime produced there is a byproduct from a zinc mine. It has to be disposed of somehow so it works well for the surrounding area. Best thing is the test show it is a very good lime that on a scale of 100 tests about 120. Also has some magnesium in it that helps us in this area. The mining process breaks it down pretty fine so it works fast also.
ClinchValley, if I can be of help just yell. Heck if you have been around any of the cattle markets in the area much you probably know me. No matter what you do you need a soil test because of the soil types that are in that area. It can be good soil or very poor in just a few miles apart.

Kenny, how much is lime a ton picked up at the mines? I am 101 miles from them; I might be cheaper to get an end dump from there if it is cheap enough.

 

[Rajela]

Lime, P&K in the fall it takes these a while to work. N applied in the spring. Regular or straight 24D has no carry over or residual effects, it does have a 30 day restriction on harvesting of hay but it want pass in the manure.

 

[dun]

The reason for the cheap lime in his area is that the lime produced there is a byproduct from a zinc mine. It has to be disposed of somehow so it works well for the surrounding area. Best thing is the test show it is a very good lime that on a scale of 100 tests about 120. Also has some magnesium in it that helps us in this area. The mining process breaks it down pretty fine so it works fast also.
ClinchValley, if I can be of help just yell. Heck if you have been around any of the cattle markets in the area much you probably know me. No matter what you do you need a soil test because of the soil types that are in that area. It can be good soil or very poor in just a few miles apart.

Kenny, how much is lime a ton picked up at the mines? I am 101 miles from them; I might be cheaper to get an end dump from there if it is cheap enough.

The problem comes into the spreading of lime. Takes some pretty heavy duty spreaders to do it and not break all the crap.

 

[littletom]

12 $ ton spread here.

 

[ClinchValley]

You say you have 30 acres wooded. Have you considered selling some timber to fund fixing the farm? Good luck on your project it will work out, and be worth it.

Unfortunately it was logged in the 90's. Will be a little bit before it can be logged again. Personally, I would like to see it cleared! That's valuable ground is how I see it. The next time it is logged maybe we can…


RoppFamilyFarm - Very informative.

Kenny Thomas - Much appreciated. I haven't been to but a couple local markets. We will have to get together sometime. It does me a great deal of good to see how other people do things….

 

[kenny thomas]

The reason for the cheap lime in his area is that the lime produced there is a byproduct from a zinc mine. It has to be disposed of somehow so it works well for the surrounding area. Best thing is the test show it is a very good lime that on a scale of 100 tests about 120. Also has some magnesium in it that helps us in this area. The mining process breaks it down pretty fine so it works fast also.
ClinchValley, if I can be of help just yell. Heck if you have been around any of the cattle markets in the area much you probably know me. No matter what you do you need a soil test because of the soil types that are in that area. It can be good soil or very poor in just a few miles apart.

Kenny, how much is lime a ton picked up at the mines? I am 101 miles from them; I might be cheaper to get an end dump from there if it is cheap enough.

I really am not sure on the price picked up. Try to find a number for CMT (Clinch Mountain Trucking). They have several dump trailers and haul all over this area, TN, GA, up to Indiana and Ohio.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

The reason for the cheap lime in his area is that the lime produced there is a byproduct from a zinc mine. It has to be disposed of somehow so it works well for the surrounding area. Best thing is the test show it is a very good lime that on a scale of 100 tests about 120. Also has some magnesium in it that helps us in this area. The mining process breaks it down pretty fine so it works fast also.
ClinchValley, if I can be of help just yell. Heck if you have been around any of the cattle markets in the area much you probably know me. No matter what you do you need a soil test because of the soil types that are in that area. It can be good soil or very poor in just a few miles apart.

Kenny, how much is lime a ton picked up at the mines? I am 101 miles from them; I might be cheaper to get an end dump from there if it is cheap enough.

I really am not sure on the price picked up. Try to find a number for CMT (Clinch Mountain Trucking). They have several dump trailers and haul all over this area, TN, GA, up to Indiana and Ohio.

Thanks Kenny.

 

[jltrent]

Good post, very interesting. Speaking of Treadway, Tennessee that is were my wife grew up as her mother still lives there and her house is a half mile west from the Zinc mine, not the mine down next to CMT. My father-in-law who is deceased, worked many years at that mine underground up until it closed, as the mining operation was moved to Cartilage, Tennessee. That area now uses the underground abandoned mines shafts, which are filled with water, as the source of water for the area. I know a lot of people in that area, up and down Mountain Valley Road, from Clinch to Thornhill.

 

[ClinchValley]

I wish they would have brought the water my way. This spring water tastes good but it is such a pain in the arse.

 

[SJB]

HBBM- if you call them and they won't come all this way for just you, let me know and I'll see if we can get 2 or 3 people to go together to buy enough to make their trip worth it? Either way, if you call them let me know what they say?

 

[jltrent]

I wish they would have brought the water my way. This spring water tastes good but it is such a pain in the arse.

They have already gotten it to Sneedville and this year suppose to put it down Treadway road 131 going west. I would get a bunch of people around you to sign a petition to have the water brought in your area and present it to the county commissioners, water authority, and/or Mike Harrison. That was the only way we got the city water or fast internet. My wife and I went and got everybody on our road that we could to sign that they wanted the water and the internet.

 

[joeu235]

I thought 2-4,D has no residual. Does it kill clover when the clover is dormant?

 

[dun]

I thought 2-4,D has no residual. Does it kill clover when the clover is dormant?

2-4,d doesn;t. In Grazon it's the Picloram that is the residual.