Field Maintenance Schedule?

[MrsMozart]

Had a google but am a bit clueless.

I need a simple idiot's guide to what needs to be done and when to a field in terms of maintenance.

I know about checking fences, hedges, gates, and water troughs, but what do I need to know about nettles, thistles, docks, and what looks (to my very inexpert eye) to be bracken (that brown sticky like thing)? I don't think there's any dandelions or buttercups, and I've not seen any ragwort.

With quite a process driven brain I need to Make A Plan of what needs doing and when and by whom, i.e. me or a contractor, and if the latter which one, otherwise I'll get confuddled and forget something at least until it's all sunk in.

Tips, suggestions, guidance, etc., all much appreciated. A hot chocolate with all the trimmings as thanks

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Are you sure it's bracken, or could it be docks which have flowered and died back? they tend to look like brown sticks and bracken doesn't usually grow in fields.

 

[Spottyappy]

You can do most things yourself, but you will need equipment.
A tow vehicle, like an ATV, so you can tow equipment. I have a Harrow, and roller for instance. These are normally done in spring, but you can do them anytime of the year, if not too muddy. However, it is suggested you don’t out horses on a newly harrowed field for about 4 weeks, as there maybe a link to grass sickness.
You may want to fertilise, depending on grass growth and what you are doing, again can be with an ATV attachment or by hand, with a garden type spreader depending how much land there is to do.
Weeds can all be sprayed, either by an attachment for the ATV, or by hand with a backpack sprayer. They will often need to be sprayed several times, due to the times they grow, and when the weed killer will be most effective. Somewhat weather dependent,but I would suggest keeping an eye out from may- September, possibly beyond if weather is growing sort.
I also have an old ride on mower for topping the field, as it was cheaper than buying a topper.
You need a good quality weed killer.
Don’t forget things like hedge cutting, you may need a contractor depending on how much hedge you have. If not loads, you can tackle it yourself.
I try and do as much of the maintence myself, as having a contractor in can be expensive.

 

[MrsMozart]

Are you sure it's bracken, or could it be docks which have flowered and died back? they tend to look like brown sticks and bracken doesn't usually grow in fields.

A good question. No, definitely not sure it's bracken..., for some reason I always thought it was, but it could be docks. The sticks are about two feet-ish tall.

 

[NLPM]

what do I need to know about nettles mine like to eat nettles - some like them cut and wilted; the others will just scoff them whilst they're still growing, thistles, mine eat these too... They love the flowers in particular. One acre used to be absolutely overrun with thistles... I cut them all down (mower) and since then the horses keep them short and the grass is winning now. We're down to very few thistles docks I leave them, but mine are good doers so I'm not trying to maximise grazing. If you are, I'd spray them - their roots are deep so pulling them up will be horrendous! Either spray (easiest) or get vigilant about instantly cutting them, and what looks (to my very inexpert eye) to be bracken (that brown sticky like thing) sounds like dead docks?? I don't think there's any dandelions or buttercups, and I've not seen any ragwort.

With quite a process driven brain I need to Make A Plan of what needs doing and when and by whom, i.e. me or a contractor, and if the latter which one, otherwise I'll get confuddled and forget something at least until it's all sunk in.

Depends how much land you've got, but this is my schedule... I go for low maintenance as much as possible!

Jan - I usually have a plan to rotate fields but some point during January I often give up and open up the whole field, and I'm closing my eyes pretending the mud doesn't exist.
Feb - Start closing up winter field again ready for grass beginning to grow (herd of fatties over here).
Mar - Get summer grazing (separate field) topped.
Apr - Top summer field if it snowed in March! Check summer field fencing.
May - Move to summer field. Winter field harrowed (and sometimes rolled).
Jun - In the past, this is when I've sprayed winter field for ragwort. In summer field - top paddocks that have grown back up since March. Start talking to people about when they might be cutting hay and how much they're likely to have...
Jul - Open remainder of summer field. Get hay delivered and into storage ready for the following year.
Aug - Winter field topped. Double check fencing etc.
Sep - If it's been a wet summer - move to winter field and summer field harrowed. If not, put this off as long as possible...
Oct - Start rotating winter field paddocks through Oct/Nov/Dec.
Nov - Any new hedges planted.
Dec - Around now, I give up on mucking out paddocks and just try to do what I can at weekends. Hedges get cut if they weren't done in November.

All major field work is done by a local farmer - honestly, I can't imagine how many years I'd have to own land to justify owning a tractor at several grand outlay (plus where on earth would I put it?!) when my entire year's worth of harrowing, topping, etc. is about £150.

Edited to add in hay deliveries etc. - I know you didn't ask, but I thought I'd add in! One year I forgot until August and ended up paying a lot per bale.

Tips, suggestions, guidance, etc., all much appreciated. A hot chocolate with all the trimmings as thanks

 

[MrsMozart]

You can do most things yourself, but you will need equipment.
A tow vehicle, like an ATV, so you can tow equipment. I have a Harrow, and roller for instance. These are normally done in spring, but you can do them anytime of the year, if not too muddy. However, it is suggested you don’t out horses on a newly harrowed field for about 4 weeks, as there maybe a link to grass sickness.
You may want to fertilise, depending on grass growth and what you are doing, again can be with an ATV attachment or by hand, with a garden type spreader depending how much land there is to do.
Weeds can all be sprayed, either by an attachment for the ATV, or by hand with a backpack sprayer. They will often need to be sprayed several times, due to the times they grow, and when the weed killer will be most effective. Somewhat weather dependent,but I would suggest keeping an eye out from may- September, possibly beyond if weather is growing sort.
I also have an old ride on mower for topping the field, as it was cheaper than buying a topper.
You need a good quality weed killer.
Don’t forget things like hedge cutting, you may need a contractor depending on how much hedge you have. If not loads, you can tackle it yourself.
I try and do as much of the maintence myself, as having a contractor in can be expensive.

Thank you! When I'm awake I'll put all that into A Plan, and add some equipment to the seemingly constantly growing equipment list Not much hedge (if any, I think they're more sort of straggly trees - will get the identification book out! There's no horses near it at the moment). No big trees so no fret on having to identify anything else. Don't like the sound of expensive so will do as much as we can. Do you roller(?) the fields?

 

[MrsMozart]

Thank you! So much info! Between you and SA I think (hope...) I'll be sorted.

So, poo picking paddocks - would you not do it now? I have our three on an electric fenced paddock, which lasted them a week, and we've just moved the fencing to give them c. another week, but it would appear I have to do four barrows a day (a bit to make up for the first week they were here and I got sidetracked by everything else). Plenty of space for them to be moved around.

 

[NLPM]

I'll keep the fields clear as long as I can - basically until it's a horrible endeavour because it's so cold and windy, or because I really can't push a barrow round anymore because of mud. Lucky enough to have enough land that I can rotate so I whip them off that paddock as soon as possible, plus as that's usually the depths of winter, there are usually regular frosts too. FEC are always low.

 

[NLPM]

Oh, some people fertilise their land in Spring... I do not!!

There's a FB group called Land Management for Horses (I think)... Interesting ideas crop up on there every now and again.
My dream would be a track system for summer and equicentral for winter, really... I do my own 'sort of equicentral' at the moment.

 

[MrsMozart]

So much to learn, thank you. Will go looksee. The land had a small herd of non-dairy cattle on it at some point, but I'm told it hasn't been fertilized. The grass has a good swathe to it and appears to still be growing. I don't think we'll need hay this winter! Unless of course the Beast from the East (or even the Pest from the West) puts in another appearance and covers the ground in snow...

 

[JennBags]

Depends how much land you have, how good the ground holds up, how many weeds there are.
I moved onto my own land end of October last year, about 4.5 acres. I'd had it topped as the gras was incredibly long, but this turned out for be a mistake. I thought this would be enough to sustain 2 horses out 24/7 but I hadn't factored in how wet my field got. I'd thought letting them have the whole field would also save it being trashed. In the end I started bringing them in mid-December but it was too late and my field took a long time to recover. As soon as it was dry enough I had it harrowed and rolled and fertilizer, this was spring time. I then split the fields out to rest them, and my grass came back brilliantly.
The summer field was about 2.5 acres and I didn't poo pick this. The winter fields are split into 2, one about 1.2 acres and one about 0.8 acres and these are being poo picked.
I had my summer field sprayed with grazon as I had huge patches of weeds, I was going to spot spray the winter fields but it didn't happen and now it's too late and it will have to wait until the spring.
Contractors are pretty cheap in my experience, but you do have to find good and reliable ones.

 

[MrsMozart]

Thank you. A decent sized plot, but there's a wet area and some dippy bits, which all need watching to see how the land does, so I'm erring on the side of thinking it's less than it is. I don't want to rush in as I really don't, yet, feel like I understand it properly. We've had land / yard before but this is the first time I'm responsible for all the maintenance and supporting the ground.

Will investigate contractors as may well need somebody at some point, even if it's just to roll and harrow, at least 'till we've cost out our own equipment as per SA above. There's the most helpful team of people in a local country store so will ask there.

 

[TheMule]

Keep your eye on local FB selling groups/ Preloved for harrows and rollers, I bought mine on there very reasonably and tow them with my little 4x4.
How you manage it depends on your acreage- if you have enough then you can rotate, harrow and rest to save the poo picking. I do that, basically get the harrows on the winter fields the first possible day in the Spring (when your car isn't leaving tracks basically). I roll the muddy bits then too- that needs it to still be a little damp and only works in a very short window of time, seed poached areas and then I have the farmer weed kill once the buttercups make an appearance (end of April generally)