Winter 2009-2010

[Carl Russell]

Tim Harrigan;16142 wrote:

….. From a soil perspective this in not a typical pasture restoration project.

Welcome to CARL’S WORLD. 😀

I don’t expect any grasses to be there when I turn the pigs on there. They will be on there directly after the machine. However, by the time they have worked over the whole “field”(5-7acres) there will undoubtedly be shoots from berries and other brush, as well as stump sprouts from hardwood saplings that were cut down. We will be broadcasting some grass seed, probably also YBSC, ahead of them and behind them.

By the end of the summer I will put my steers on there for them to eat down the woody sprouts, and nettles, jewel weed, and others.

There will be more debris on the surface than any other such clearing that I have done, but I have used this strategy in several other settings, usually leaving larger woody boles, letting the grazers trample small branches and twigs. It usually takes 2-3 years of light grazing combined with porcine and poultry disturbance and manure distribution, as well as winter-feeding hay seed/mulch and manure to get good palatable feed to get established.

There are several big differences here. First the woody debris will be much closer and more available to the soil, breaking down faster, but also tying up more energy. But also there will be greater incorporation by the pigs because they will have fewer obstacles and the layers of debris will foster the growth of more “goodies” for them to root after. I will have better fencing because the entire area will be “flattened” at once where I usually work much more slowly by hand. So I will be able to have perimeter fence around the whole area, allowing me to move my front/back fences more easily, concentrating and managing the pig activity better.

Also with all the stumps at ground level I will be able to drag and/or brush-hog better to address the woody/weedy growth that will undoubtedly take advantage of the low N high PH situation.

Soil tests have yet to be done, but I tend to move through these types of processes more by intuition than by the narrow lens of science. Not to say that soil chemistry/biology are not important aspects of our objective to grow good forage, just that it is more important to me that the process is something that I can manage and control with limited outside inputs of energy, materials, and labor.

I want to take advantage of 60 years of fallow biomass production, which in some ways is dismissed by the conventional knowledge. In my heart, based on years of working on the land, I can FEEL the deep connections in the forest-soil-grass-animal-human cycle. True, I can’t quantify them, and therefore I can’t scientifically justify my approach, but I also am not trying to pretend that I won’t have to adjust along the way.

We won’t be tilling. We are planning to just build sod and good forage through a regular application of animal rotation and inter-seeding with quality grasses. Possibly within ten years we will be taking at least one crop of hay off while grazing for most of the season. When the clearing is completely done we will have close to 30 acres open, so we should have it pretty well refined by then, and we’ll have more than we will be able graze so there will be a need to harvest hay.

Carl

[dominiquer60]

A word of caution about sweet clover for those that have never experienced its power. This plant is amazing, it is a vigorous grower, fixes a lot of N to the soil, and the tap roots penetrate deep into the soil. My first time mowing it was on a river bottom with a 75hp tractor. It was so tall and thick that I almost went hind end over tea kettle because I didn’t see the huge 8′ deep wash out gully that the spring flood had created until the last moment. My real concern is that everyone understands that while a valuable tool for cover cropping and land management, it can be a pernicious weed if you let it go to seed. If you don’t want this growing in indiscriminate places just make sure that you mow it a few times so that it doesn’t go to seed and become an annual nuisance. It’s great stuff, as long as it is managed well.

Erika

[Tim Harrigan]

Yes, great N source and green manure but there is a bloat potential for grazing cattle and some other issues if sweet clover hay gets moldy.

[Carl Russell]

We’re only going to use it for the initial cover cropping, then transition more toward red clover/timothy.

[Tim Harrigan]

I think if you will be working up the ground in various ways a soil test for pH in particular is a good investment. Our soils tend to be low pH and it limits nutrient uptake even when the nutrient is abundant in the soil. It also limits the forage choices that will thrive. Just seems like a good time to check it out, it could influence your decision on what crops to pursue.

We have some long-term pasture down to 5.2 now, I think I will set up some strip comparisons this spring with a few different rates of lime to start bringing it up and then frost seed red clover across the strips in the opposite direction so I have several different treatments to observe over the next couple of years. Pasture restoration is a really interesting process.

[Carl Russell]

I meant low N and LOW PH. That is one draw-back to not burning, but we do intend to apply lime and/or ash. We’ll definitely do the soil tests. I just meant that most of the direction is not determined by the measurements.

Carl

[Donn Hewes]

I think when you have the time frames that Carl does ( a few years), and the pigs and poultry and steers for assistance; returning these lands to productive pasture is not rocket science. I am working on a very similar project. I am piling the brush, ignoring the stumps, winter feeding horses, using pigs in the summer, and soon will have a nice place to put sheep on a hot summer day. Donn

PS. Had a fellow visit today, asked me “why my horses where kept in by a single hot wire that was only a foot of the ground?”. I think I said, “I have no idea!” Snow so deep I had to plow with a tractor. I hate that. – ugh!

[Joshua Kingsley]

I can relate Donn,
I have had several people stop before and ask when I am gonna put a gate up by the road for my drafts…. I have Gallager Bungee gates in there now and they have been coated with heavy snow once or twice this year and were on the ground. I have also had people not see the 3/8 inch round white fencing during the winter….

I am puttering on thinning a stand of elm and assorted hard woods on one of our pastures. The trees are so thick in some spots that they are less than 3 feet apart. Hopefully in a few years the cattle and horses will actually be able to move in there. It will be a welcome source of shade in the summer for the herd.

Joshua

[jen judkins]

Brontosaurus? What are you referring to? Sounds scary…

[Joshua Kingsley]

A brontosaurus is a large excavator with a chipper head attachment, they have become common in the High Tension Power line trimming for places where they are able to work. They turn the tree or woody debris into chipped / ground mulch some of the operators that I know of are really good with thier equipment and give reliably small chipps and I have seen one other guy whom I don’t know that leaves a lot longer chip length. Though the chips are still faster to decompose than a whole tree would be.

Joshua

[Tim Harrigan]

I agree Donn, not rocket science but it is like most projects where you have goals and objectives and a timeline in mind. While Carl is a master of natural techniques and practices my sense is his approach is not random but deliberate and purposeful. I have not had an opportunity to convert forest land to pasture so I appreciate insight to the thought process.

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