Advice on maintaining fields.

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zangels

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We purchased our land in June last year and got a cut of haylage from it and then put the horses on it in September. we have on field around 3 acres and another around 2 and a half. The plan was to graze the big field in winter (October to March) then come off it and use the other field so the winter one can grow and hopefully get a cut from it again.
We have split the summer field into three with electric tape and the plan was to rotate every 2 weeks so each section would get two weeks of gazing and then four weeks of rest. So far this dosnt seem to be working, the horses have gone through fencing to get to the rested sections and now the whole field has hardly any grass. Unfortunately we don't currently have a lot of cash to spend on fertaliser etc and we were let own by the farmer who was coming to harrow. We have a 16.2 and a 12h pony, so does any one have a good way to maintain the land? It is clay soil but on a slope so water does drain away but the clay soil does hold the water. Any help greatly appreciated?
 
You do not say what part of the country you are in, here in north grass is only just growing. Are your horses on limited grazing or out 24/7. We harrowed two weeks ago and grass is only just starting to grow and I have only stopped feeding hay today. We do not fertilize as I do not want the ponies on rich grass and risk lami.

I have 6 acres and two 13.hh two year olds at present, and have never had enough grass to take hay etc. I have an arrangement with my neighbour, he grazes a few of his sheep on the field, which helps maintain it, and in return he gives me hay from his own fields, where he gets a much better crop than I would.

Many people do manage their fields by using their 4x4 to harrow, spread etc.
 
I would wait until the grass is growing better then split the summer field again, they will probably stay put once there is grass to eat, if you divide into 2 it will last longer before they run out they will not get the benefit of so much growth but it should be a steadier supply which may be better for them anyway as well as more room to move around.
The field for hay would benefit from harrowing, even if it seems a bit late the grass will come through soon enough, I am on clay and it holds the moisture so grass grows even when the land gets dry, if you keep taking hay as well as grazing something needs to be put back but you will not need to fertilise every year, you may get a better crop if you do but it will cost more so it balances out.
 
We are in the Northwest, I was gutted hat he farmer didn't come to harrow but think our plot must be low on his lst with it being small I suppose. I'm got to save up this year so hopefully next year we will have the money to fertalise etc. I'm hoping our muck heap canbe spread next year. The horses are currently in at night and out for around 10hours in the day.
So do you think splitting into 2 and grazing each section for 2 weeks would work best in the summer field or splitting into 3 section and grazing each section for a week and then moving them? Or maybe leaving as one field and leaving them to it?
Unfortunately we don't have a 4x4 either.
 
I'd be surprised if you could have horses on the field all winter and get a hay crop from it. normally it's one or the other.
 
I hope we can get a hay cut. This will be our first year so I suppose only time will tell.
I'm hoping someone on this forum will Come along and tell me they do. If it doesn't work out this year then we will just have to use all the space all year and leave them out more to save on the amount of hay they go through I suppose.
The winter field has done quite well really and only got muddy at the gateways. I was hoping they could be out 24/7 with hay in the field from May to September but I'm not sure the fields will cope with it.
 
One reason farmers hate horses is that they are even closer grazers than sheep and, eventually, they will graze out all the tall grasses you cut to make hay. Since you haven't had the land for long, this is unlikely to have happened yet.

I wouldn't worry about the harrowing (which is over stated and not considered necessary by a lot of farmers). Just get the horses off and put some fertiliser on when the grass starts growing. A rough guide would be 100kgs of 20:10:10 per acre and you should get a decent cut of hay. But that is a rough guide!
 
Thank you, I will speak to the farmer and see hw much it will e to fertalise the side we are wanting to get a cut from. Is it something that we could do ourselves on 3 acres if he can't fit us in?
 
If your famer is struggling for time, there may be a contractor in your area who will spread for you, we have one near us, in autumn he cuts hedges, he mows, bales etc hay in summer and moves round as farmers call on him.
 
zangels said:
Thank you, I will speak to the farmer and see hw much it will e to fertalise the side we are wanting to get a cut from. Is it something that we could do ourselves on 3 acres if he can't fit us in?
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Of course, I don't know you but if you are reasonably fit in mind and body, there is no reason at all why you should not do it yourself! 3 acres is not that much. A lot of seed (all?) was broadcast by hand before machines were invented. Not fertiliser, because prilled artificials are fairly new!

The traditional way is to wear a bag which hangs in front, like an apron, to hold the seed and use two hands, alternately. You take a handful with your right hand and fling the contents as evenly as you can to the front and right, then repeat with the left. Your aim is to get an even spread on the ground as you walk forward at a steady pace. After a little while, you'll get into a rhythm. It is quite satisfying! I occasionaly sown grass seed this way. Your only problem that I can see is putting on the correct quantity which you can work out if you are good at maths.

Once you've done it, you can bring out the harrows and work it with passes at right angles to each other to get an even better spread, but just spreading by hand should be sufficient.

Just done a search of YouTube as it is easier to understand if you can see it done but the best I can come up with is this! Quite shocked that there is nothing on YouTube actually. No reason why you couldn't make something similar to this man's investion!:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tucmGHXbNLs
 
I have my 2 (17hh and 14hh) on a 2.7 acre winter field each year - but they don't go on until Christmas and usually come off early/ mid March - I have had a hay crop then from this field but very weather dependent ie, you need perfect growing conditions and there's not much you can do about the weather.
This year they only came off 2 weeks ago and I'm not even going to attempt to take hay - I'll let the grass grow long and have the very old fashioned standing hay.
We were recommended potatos fertiliser (cheap to get in our area which is 12:12:12 (it think or it might be 16:16:16 - can't remember!)

with regard to you summer field split into three does make it quite small, two would be better if you can - but remember grass will stop growing when summer is here (usually end June to begining of Sept) so resting won't make much difference then - they may as well have the whole lot. If you're feeing hay int he field all year round they shouldn't need to break out - can you get a mains energiser in your house/ garage/ feed room - much more effective than a battery one.

Alternatively could you split the 5.5 acres into 3 equal ish? I use one Christmas to March - one March to hay cut time and the third (always fertilised) I cut hay from and then after a weeks rest put them on until Christmas. That way each field gets some good growth on it as grass peaks again in Sept (when wet comes back but still warm enough) so the spring field goes into winter with a nice covering.
 
Horse fields dont need to be fertilised but farmers do always recommend to do this. Horses remember do not need lush rich grass so please dont fertilise, so unnecessary. Your problem seems to be keeping the current horses contained in their electric fencing(not sure why they are not respecting it?? are they rugged as they wont get zapped enough). The three acres is small to take a cut off but possible. Although a farmer will cut their own first and you could end up losing it to rain etc. Also how much are they going to charge you to cut, it could be cheaper to buy it in? But good luck its probably going to be trial and error.
 
indie999 said:
Horse fields dont need to be fertilised but farmers do always recommend to do this. Horses remember do not need lush rich grass so please dont fertilise, so unnecessary. Your problem seems to be keeping the current horses contained in their electric fencing(not sure why they are not respecting it?? are they rugged as they wont get zapped enough). The three acres is small to take a cut off but possible. Although a farmer will cut their own first and you could end up losing it to rain etc. Also how much are they going to charge you to cut, it could be cheaper to buy it in? But good luck its probably going to be trial and error.
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I was under the impression that the OP wanted to get a cut of hay, but if not I'd agree with the above which is all sound advice.

Yes, getting someone to cut/turn/bale/transport a hay crop on 3 acres will likely to be a major problem unless you can do a deal with a neighbour, e.g. harvest it for a 50/50 split.

I would always put on some fertiliser as it is better to have too much than too little and use a electric fence to ration it.
 
OP if you do want to make your own hay, getting farmer/ contractor will be virtually impossible/ v expensive for 3 acres as quite a bit of the cost is in getting the equipment to you (and/or leaving it there for the week so they can't use it elsewhere)

If you really want to do hay best best is to buy your own kit, a 1950's tractor, turner and baler (you can usually get the cutting done ok), we bought a 1940's baler from ebay 5 years ago for £500 - drove it home straight out into the field and made 600 bales !! Paid for itself in that single day.

Even using our own kit our hay costs £1.50 a bale once fertiliser, red diesel, string, weedkiller etc. is included - so if you've got to pay for farmers time and use of equipment you could easily be paying £3/£4 a bale to make your own.
 
Thanks for all the grwatvadvuce. We have arranged a 50/50 split with the farmer who is going to cut the haylage.
My main concern is the current grazing, how long do others leave on one section before moving to the next and how long does each section then get to rest?
 
I only move mine when they really start to act properly hungry - pacing up and down etc. or if they started doing less poos/ dropping weight.

I also look carefully at the grass close to the field that they can't reach - to give me an idea of how much is really growing - mine seem to suck it out of the ground, it looks really short but they are doing lots of huge green poos and constantly eating and ignoring me when I go in the field, it doesn't look like there is a lot there but they aren't hungry !!
 
zangels said:
Thank you, I will speak to the farmer and see hw much it will e to fertalise the side we are wanting to get a cut from. Is it something that we could do ourselves on 3 acres if he can't fit us in?
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We have done just that - took a couple of hours but managed to get fertiliser over all the 2.5 acre sheep paddock spreading by hand with a bucket and pair of marigolds. I can be done but it is obviously not as even a coverage as it would be if done by machinery - but we make do. A friend lent us their quad, so we harrowed, overseeded and rolled the horses winter field (looks so much better thankfully now). Again overseeding was done by hand, carrying a bucket of seed and sprinkling in a relatively even pattern trying to keep the seed in a similar spread each time. Yes it is a PITA at times not having any equipment but hey ho, you have to start somewhere don't you ??

Incidentally our local countrywide stores have fertiliser in smaller 25 kg bags atm, about £17 a bag I think, and it is 4 bags an acre for the NPK fertiliser.
 
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