Help with pasture

[Pipkin]

Fingers crossed i`m moving in 3 weeks with my oh to our own small holding(only approx 6 months later than planned)
Anyway there are two fields, one which is going to be used for the summer one for winter. Summer field will be split in two rotating.
The summer field is fine for grazing.
Winter is um well lets say over grown lol and has rushes (i think they're rushes) these things http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/assets/organicweeds/rushes2.jpg
My current YO cuts these down, can i do the same or will I need to ask a kind farmer to come help me with fertilising and what ever else is needed....
Any advice would be fab!
Thanks in advance x

 

[Bosworth]

The reeds you are showing are water reeds which indicates that that field is very wet. So probably unsuitable for winter as it will just become a wet boggy mess. Yes they can be cut down and you can get rid however the ground will still have the problem. It may be poor drainage, it may be an underground spring or it may have a high water table. if it is poor drainage then some work can be done on that to clear ditches and lay drainage pipes, but with springs and high water tables it is very difficult to solve. It may be that if you choose to swap the grazing over then the wet ground won;t be a problem in summer. If I were you I would get an agronomist in to have a look at your fields, do a soil sample and advise you as to what is feasible in the short and long term.

 

[Pipkin]

The reeds you are showing are water reeds which indicates that that field is very wet. So probably unsuitable for winter as it will just become a wet boggy mess. Yes they can be cut down and you can get rid however the ground will still have the problem. It may be poor drainage, it may be an underground spring or it may have a high water table. if it is poor drainage then some work can be done on that to clear ditches and lay drainage pipes, but with springs and high water tables it is very difficult to solve. It may be that if you choose to swap the grazing over then the wet ground won;t be a problem in summer. If I were you I would get an agronomist in to have a look at your fields, do a soil sample and advise you as to what is feasible in the short and long term.

Thanks
I went for a scoot through on the weekend and it seemed pretty dry considering the amount of rain we`ve had ...my Yo done drainage ditch thing so I think i`ll do that, then the soil samples and when they have the results I`ll find a nice farmer
I`ll prob swap fields for this year and work on it for next winter....Thanks for the advice

 

[BBH]

I bought a field covered in these and they were about 6ft tall, the problem was a ditch that hadn't been cleared in years, in fact one half of the field was under water in the winter.

Anyway I got the ditches cleared and did some drainage and now the rushes have gone. Its taken a good couple of years for them to go completely but so worth the work / expense.