Pasture Renovation

[KING]

Last year I purchased a farm in Upstate New York, that had pastures over run with multiflora rose and thorns, my daughter and I renovated 10 acres by brush hogging, chain sawing and even dozing out some of the roses. I tried to be as low impact as possible as we had cattle in the pasture that needed the grass. The pasture was populated with native grasses, mostly timothy and some clover along with various weeds. I mowed the entire pasture twice in five sections about 5 weeks apart. I wanted to fertilize the pasture, but the thorn stubble from bush hogging deterred me from putting heavy equipment with pneumatic tires on it so I used a small spreader behind an ATV and yes we had to repair the tires on the ATV. I was unsure what to fertilize with so I did a test using 100lbs of urea on one acre along with 200 lbs of lime on the same acre. Last year, that part of the pasture seemed to be a little better than other parts, but not a lot better. This spring, the fertilized area was 3 to 4 times better than the un-fertilized portions of the pasture with a heavy stand of timothy and clover. I want to improve the rest of the pasture as economically as possible, but I am not sure what did the trick. The lime was minimal at that rate and I would have thought that the nitrogen would have been used up long ago. So what is likely to have caused the great difference in that part of pasture, the lime or the urea or both and what should I do with the rest of the pasture this year or was it that the cows spent more time there last season depositing more manure and urine there due to the sweeter grass making the soil more fertile this year?

 

[dun]

Instead of shooting in thark, do a soil test. That will tewll you what you actually need and how much

 

[Isomade]

Instead of shooting in thark, do a soil test. That will tewll you what you actually need and how much

:nod:

 

[cow pollinater]

I don't know anything about your soils but the lime will help most clovers grow in most soils.
Clovers are a legume that produce their own nitrogen so they are less dependent on it being in the soils to germinate and grow well.
Also, 2-4d will burn down the roses and most thorny plants and leave the grasses. It will also burn clover but you can probably leave enough clover in the non-infested areas for it to re-seed. Cattle will eat some plant's that they otherwise wouldn't touch after it's been hit with herbicide to soften it up.
I would also recomend a soil test but mainly because a drastic change in the soil fertility would most likely favor grasses instead of the roses and thorns.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Lime is usually a good investment, N not so much.
I think sheep may be a good option for your roses.
Check with some local grazers after you get a soil test.