Field management, harrowing/rolling etc

[Vicki1986]

I've been reading up but still am unsure of bes tcourse of action. Please could people suggest whats best.

I have 2 small paddocks for my 3 small mares, (ive just moved here) They've grazed one field for a month & then i've swapped over to the next to give the other a rest (unfortunately a huge snow drift blew in so as its melted some of it has suffered with the excess water)

The grass here is good, the soil underneath is quite heavy going, so the field becomes fairly bumpy fairly quick in the wet weather, I would say rutted but its not dry so not sure thats right word.

If i Harrow and roll a) when do i do this, is march too soon/how dry does ground need to be?
and b) as my fields are not massive, how long do i have to leave a harrowed one before i put them back out on it.

The fields are poo picked weekly at minimum, wormed/worm counted as appropriate, and all 3 horses are fat (ponies muzzled in spring>autumn) so i dont want masses off grass, just want to maintain it well as its got lovely grass at the mo - and flattening the ruts would be good.

Bit of a dunce on this subject so any help appreciated.

 

[JamesEarwaker]

Ill have a go at this one

Id firstly like to point out something you said, "just want to maintain it well as its got lovely grass", alot of people have lovely grass and think its tough as old boots and in most cases it is but it does need to be maintaned, needs treatment every so often, does wonders and keeps it that "lovely looking grass" you all like for your horses.

a) Maybe middle to late march is normaly when i start and go right throw till may time, it can never be too early to do it tho, it doesnt want to be soaking wet but you can harrow when damp although the tractor doesnt want to be leaving any foot prints (normaly good indication showing how wet or not it is) and the same goes for rolling too, doesnt mind being damp but doesnt want to be soaking and you could do all this when bone dry too.
b) thats totaly upto you, although the hole point of harrowing is to rip the dead grass out and air the soil creating new grass shoots, so allow them to get into good shoots, if you get a good spell of rain after harrowing/rolling it normaly helps the process on a bit quicker.

Hope thats helped a little

 

[Bosworth]

You would roll first to get rid of the lumps and then harrow to aerate the ground. I generally do mine in spring once i have moved my horses to their summer grazing. I use my winter fields for my haylage so I have to muckspread as well, so I muckspread, then harrow a few days later - then roll, then I harrow again to loosen the surface up. Then I leave the fields until June/July to take hay and then they are left again until November when the horses move back across for winter. You don't want to roll until the ground has dried out a lot. At the moment taking a tractor on your fields would result in a mudbath with your grazing churned up badly.

 

[Vicki1986]

Cool thanks both for the advice.

 

[JanetGeorge]

[ QUOTE ]

The grass here is good, the soil underneath is quite heavy going, so the field becomes fairly bumpy fairly quick in the wet weather, I would say rutted but its not dry so not sure thats right word.

If i Harrow and roll a) when do i do this, is march too soon/how dry does ground need to be?
and b) as my fields are not massive, how long do i have to leave a harrowed one before i put them back out on it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Rolling needs to be done AS SOON as the field is dry enough to get tractor/roller on it without the tractor digging in and the roller picking up large amounts of mud - if you're on heavy clay then you might have a 3 day window when it's dry enough - but not SO dry that the roller just bounces over the top of the ruts!!

Harrowing can be done as soon as it's dry enough - and a mounted harrow means you can do ita BIT earlier than if using a trailed harrow (you can lift the mounted harrow if it bogs down in a wet bit.) But if it's TOO dry when you harrow - and rain is not imminent - you need to roll immediately after or lots of little clumps of grass - ripped up by the harrows - will dry out and die before they can get their roots back down!

If the field has been well poo picked, then a week - or a decent rain shower - is enough before re-using. If you're spreading poo, OR if you're in a 'high risk' grass sickness area, then at LEAST 6 weeks.

 

[Vicki1986]

Thank you, thats very clear advice. Feel like I know whats what now.

 

[Groom Mum]

my fields right now are really bad. I am up to my knees in clay almost flooded mud around the stable doors and shelter entrance. The field they have been in for past 8 weeks is just a terrible mess mostly hoof churned up mud with tufts of grass here and there. I cannot imagine where my farmer will start with this field. It's like it needs a scoop and to scoop /drag off the top foot of sludge. But im thinking they will just wait until it dries out. My worry is that where the horses have been treading there are some deep holes. When they dry out its going to be dangerous as they will be treading in what is effectively holes in the ground. So will they roll first then harrow? I cannot wait for flat ground i can walk on safely again.

 

[Slightly Foxed]

This is an old thread! I don't roll our extremely cut up heavy clay but harrow it as soon as it's dry enough. Rolling compacts the soil and that's the last thing clay needs. My clay winter paddocks are really bad this year, but they've been bad before but always come back with harrowing, a bit of overseeding and some fertiliser. You'll be fine!