Fertilising fields?

[almrc]

I have 2 fields a winter and a summer field. They moved out of their winter field in May and I hope to move them back to the winter field end of Sept/Oct. Now, as soon as they move out of their top field I want to put calcified seaweed on it.

Is it too late to put this on the bottom winter field?

What do you do/use? What else do ou do with your summer/winter fields and when?

Thank you

 

[Mike007]

calcified seaweed is basicly a trace element dressing with some liming effect. And very good stuff it is. It is not too late to dress any of your fields,but please also be aware that you do need to dress with phosphate and potash to negate the "camping " effect of equine grazing.(or to put it in other words ,horses eat all the nutrients from all over the field and poo them in one corner)

 

[almrc]

oh I see, thank you. So what would I need to do first? Sorry this is all new to me! And it would be ok to do the winter field now, for when they go on it in Oct? How often would you put this on the fields, would it be every rotation or once every so many years?

 

[LittleBlackMule]

Hmmmm.. I've used calcified seaweed.. it's okay, but you'd be better off using a 20 10 10 mix or similar from your local feed merchant. Spread it in autumn or spring (preferably both) combined with spot treating any broad leaved weeds (docks, thistles, ragwort, knapweed) in about May.

 

[almrc]

That makes a lot of sense, thank you. So do this in Autumn/spring ideally in both fields? Is it ok for them to graze on it as soon as it has been done or do you need to leave it for a bit?

 

[LittleBlackMule]

You should ideally fertilize just before rain to allow it to soak into the ground. Depending on how wet it's been you can let the horses back on within a week. (wetter sooner, drier later).
With weedkillers, refer to manufacturers instructions. I use Pastor which is pretty safe and the horses can go back on a week later.

 

[Mike007]

Ah ha little black mule! where have you been lurking. You are a bit of a pasture guru on the quiet. Welcome aboard.

 

[LittleBlackMule]

Ah ha little black mule! where have you been lurking. You are a bit of a pasture guru on the quiet. Welcome aboard.

Thanks mate!
Only just joined.. farming background..

 

[Mike007]

Whispers behind hand,youve got your work cut out with this lot!

 

[LittleBlackMule]

I'll do my best

 

[Arkmiido]

calcified seaweed is basicly a trace element dressing with some liming effect. And very good stuff it is. It is not too late to dress any of your fields,but please also be aware that you do need to dress with phosphate and potash to negate the "camping " effect of equine grazing.(or to put it in other words ,horses eat all the nutrients from all over the field and poo them in one corner)

With regard the "camping" - would this therefore be part of the argument for harrowing, resting, rotating and topping paddocks, as opposed to poo picking? I suspect that the gees are stripping the nutrients out of the soil and I'm carefully piling it in a corner of the field... My acreage currently resembles a sub-saharan dust bath despite being fertilized in the spring, and weed-killed... It doesn't help that I have a couple of inches of soil on solid chalk downland which is terribly well drained - probably much better suited for grazing sheep than warmbloods because I'm currently struggling to support 3 1/2 big horses and 3 1/2 mini shetlands, on 15 acres :-( and actually having to feed haylage! Any suggestions?!
BTW, worm eggs counts are nil or low for my guys.

 

[LittleBlackMule]

Well, although your field might appreciate having the droppings harrowed, that isn't going to do anything for your worm count
Fact is, all the maintenance in the world aint gonna compensate for the lack of rain!

Keep picking the poos, spread some 20 10 10 in the spring and grin and bear it

 

[Mike007]

Cocksfoot grass seed, Cocksfoot is very drought resistant ,but a little difficult to manage. Introduce it into your sward.

 

[Rose Folly]

I was told by my feeddmerchant that there was no need to take the horses off the field after dressing with calcified seaweed, as it is a natural product. So I didn't! Don't know whether it was right or wrong???, but the horses were all absolutely fine, and yes, it's a super fertilizer in my book - steady growth, and leaves the grass 'horse-rich' not 'dairy-cow rich' if you see what I mean. Our laminitic is fine with it. Oh, and the neighbours will love the seaside smell!!

 

[Mike007]

yup ,with you all the way. But the odd bag os 20 10 10 does help.

 

[horseriderdeb]

I was going to sprinkle something called suregrow onto my winter field. thought I would do it this week as its given rain

 

[Waterborn]

I have found these guys quite useful http://progreen.co.uk/

 

[Arkmiido]

Just looked on the Progreen website, noticed they do soil analysis-
Has anyone had any experience with having trace elements /pH analyzed and then fertilizing/treating accordingly? Basically does it make a significant difference?!
Is it worth me fertilizing again in the autumn? When could I do it at the earliest? I am desperate for grass!!! Even after all this rain, it still looks like the Sahara out there... Thinking about having it all re-seeded too - not sure about how effective over-seeding would be, and when the best time to do it would be? Spring or this autumn?
If soil analysis is worth doing, can anyone recommend a company that I can send a sample to? Do you take multiple samples? I am on solid chalk (no prizes for guessing the pH there), my grazing also gets munched by my sheep and pigs after the horses have been on it.

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

soil testing will tell you what your fields actually need, and then you can apply what you need as opposed to what you think you need.

 

[almrc]

so then how much 20 10 10 will I need per acre, about?

 

[Nic]

We used 16 16 16 last year but it just didn't have enough oomph. So after convincing fertilizer guru I did indeed need more grass(!) we went with 20 10 10 which worked a treat. Think they said 25kg bag an acre roughly.

 

[T-Bag]

I'm always worried about making the grass too rich for the horses!!

 

[almrc]

hmm not sure about that tbag, all new to me, anyone?

 

[Mike007]

50 kg of 20 10 10 per acre is quite a safe ,low dressing.

 

[T-Bag]

50 kg of 20 10 10 per acre is quite a safe ,low dressing.

not sure what that means and where would muck from the heap be in that as well?