Buying land questions

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Tiddlepiddle

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I'm looking at some land which has been used to graze sheep and cattle in the past. It has been 'lightly' fertilised with nitrogen! and also with the muck from the cow sheds once a year. The ground apparently hasn't been seeded with additional grasses but there was some rye in there.

The question is, will this be dodgy grazing for horses especially sensitive ones?

I guess another question is, if so, how long might ground like this be dodgy and is there anything that can be done to help?

Oh, and would making hay off this ground also be a problem for sensitives?
 
A farmer friend told me the other day that any fertiliser put on this spring has probably been rendered 50% ineffective because of all the rain we've had. I presume your horse is sensitive because it is lami-prone, but as long as you stick to the lami rules you shouldn't have a problem. Check the field for ragwort though.
 
That's great, thanks for the replies.

There are some thistles and docks but as bad as some overgrazed pony paddocks that I see. I couldn't see any ragwort on that visit and they'll be making haylege off it as soon as it dries so I don't know whether I'll see it til it grows again?

Does anyone know roughly how long it takes for land to get back to an 'unfertised' state?
 
If by 'unfertilised' you mean all chemical fertiliser/spray residues gone ... Soil Associasion Organic conversion takes 3 years. Have a look for clover in the field as this provides a 'natural' nitrogen source & may not be suitable for lami-prone if in large quantities, though it tends to be in lower quantites where artificial N has been applied. Hope I'm making some kind of sense!
 
Farmers use a very high strength nitrogen and nitrogen is good for making good hay but not good to put on grazing fields. Horses dont need nitrogen rich grazing etc If they are going to cut the field etc I would fence off whatever grazing you need and possibly be a bit mean with the horses especially as you have some sensitive?? laminitic?? type horses good doers etc.

Its good we have had the rain as I agree everything will be washed out hopefully but also its very spring like too so grass is growing

You will probably be ok but just be vigilent etc. As for the docks if they are about to be cut, why not in the spring next year just get them sprayed ie headland polo you could probably spot spray them etc. The ground is probably poor for docks buttercups etc(I have had this problem myself...got rid of docks with grazon but am switching to headland polo as I now have buttercup problem). I spot sprayed the docks and it took me 3 years of this to get rid of them and I didnt try that hard it was quite simple!Grazon is about to be discontinued too.

I think it sounds ideal just fence off to restrict as you would normally do and this will allow for the rest of the field to grow etc au naturelle! You can then see what you have got! Good luck
 
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