Anyone use lime to sweeten their paddocks

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yeeharider

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Now we are harrowing and not poo picking was thinking about putting lime on paddocks to sweeten anyone use this how long do horses need to be off grass and what type of lime do you use :)
 
I know I prefer to poo pick new land owner wants to harrow and use natural fertiliser-- his words I still poo pick 5 days out of seven just thought the lime may stop the grass getting spoiled
 
PeterNatt said:
Harrowing is not an alternative to poo picking as it simply spreads the worms around the pasture. Best practice is to poo pick each day.
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I never poo pick and only harrow. The theory behind it being that the poo is broken up and the worms are killed by the sun... I've gotten worm counts done and its always been fine?

So to answer your question.... I don't know! I leave all the fertilising and stuff to our local farmer... he knows what he's at!
 
Harrowing to spread and kill worms on pasture you are grazing only works if the day is very hot or freezing cold. Otherwise it just spreads the worm eggs and should only be done on land you are resting.
Lime should not be spread unless the land is deficient. Apart from testing, a good clue is how buttercup heavy it is. They don't like lime so if you have loads the land suits them and a top dressing if lime is probably a good idea.
 
Lime makes the soil less acid and acid soil isn't good for much except rhododendrons :) There is a man in Staffs by the name of Sean Smith who comes and does a Ph test and calculates how much lime you will need to get the soil to a neutral Ph, covers most of the country and does nothing else, he knows his job. And yes, he has been known to tell someone they didn't need any, and there is no charge for that visit and test. If you PM me I'll give you his contact details.
 
Easy enough to test soils using a kit from a garden centre, take a number of plugs from various places, and mix then test the sample.
If a farmer is going to spread lime he will know how to test and calculate lime, sampling must be representative.
Grass itself it pretty tolerant of acidity, and will adapt to the conditions of management, but I like the idea of liming overgrazed grass, it needs to be rained in, so often done in autumn. Sheep are best grazers to mix / alternate with horses as they keep grass in good condition and cut the worms.
I agree with liming, but even though I live in an acid soil high rainfall area no one round here actually manages their grass fields for horses.
Agricultural limestone: often spread by contractors, it is not nice to handle.
http://www.aglime.org.uk/ see Lime calculator
It might be an idea to think about magnesium limestone if soil is low, but this will require more specialist advice.
I am a gardener [pro], living in a MgO deficient high acid area and results from application of a grass fertiliser with 3% magnesium have been impressive.
 
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Went to a "worming evening" (yuck!) which our local vet practice did for clients a few years ago.

One of the things that I did remember was that they said that harrowing to get rid of worm eggs is ONLY effective if the ambient temperature is ABOVE 25 degrees C. And that if you harrowed pasture which hasn't been poo picked and the temperature is less than 25C, then basically all you're doing is spreading worm eggs around and making the situation a whole lot worse.
 
I'd also be careful what fertiliser the farmer puts onto the field, as it can be known to help kick off laminitic episodes....Its not dairy land, its horse land, and the difference is big! Get your soil analysed and take it from there. Harrowing in dry summer months is fine but not when it becomes wet and warm, the worms will still survive, unless you have sheep orcattrle in with the herd to eat the grass where the worms are and counter act the process..
 
Thank you for the replies some very interesting points especially about the buttercups we have loads so will probably put some lime on in the autumn to try to reduce these :)
 
if you have a lot of buttercup, your soil will likely be acidic and grazing makes pasture acidic. Instead of lime, which will require some resting and is not nice to handle, you can use calcified seaweed which will make pH higher and help condition the soil. simple systems do some which is not expensive-as do Mole Valley if you live close enough.Might even be enough to not fertilise (on first year of it).

after years of poo picking resulting in weedy, poor paddocks I am going the harrowing root. I don't think you can just take out of the soil and not put anything back in-well you can, but you end up with buttercup and docks. From a worming POV though, poo picking is best.
 
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We lime our land (tested - acidic) about every 4 -5 years and it certainly seems to keep it in good heart. We don't fertilize at all (too much grass, actually!), but do rotate with cattle and sheep. Don't poo pick either, but we have 3 horses on 8 acres.
 
Thankyou shared a yard some years ago with someone who produced racehorses and she used to use a mixture of lime and calcified seaweed which I had forgotten about :)
 
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