paddock spraying help

[Kelpie]

I can't cope with another year of waiting for paddock spraying guys to not pitch up until the most inconvenient moment, etc, etc..... so I wanted to see about buying my own kit but need help, if some kind soul on here doesn't mind pointing me in the right direction?

I've already got a harrow and a spoker that attach onto the landrover. However, I really need to weedkill and fertilize so probably need to buy some sort of sprayer + also the actual weedkiller & fertilizer. There's about 10 acres in all to look after.

Any tips/ ideas on geer/ recommendations on where to buy, etc, very much appreciated!

 

[SpruceRI]

Hi Kelpie

I've got a miniscule amount of land to you, so I spray my paddocks by hand with a 10 litre knapsack sprayer (though I only fill it to 7ltr as it's so heavy!)

My weedkiller of choice is Grazon 90 which I buy mail order from Mole Valley Farmers. We are on clay so suffer with dock, nettles and brambles mainly which this sorts beautifully. And I've found that the grass grows better after spraying.

The bottle says to keep grazing animals off the land for 2 weeks - I tend to leave it a bit longer just to be sure.

The one thing I haven't been able to banish is Creeping Buttercup, the Grazon temporarily shrivels it and then it comes back with a vengeance (it does say in all the literature on the Grazon bottle that it doesn't kill buttercup.)

I also get quite a lot of ragwort which I pull by hand as though various things kill it, it's then really hard to find the dead stuff to remove.

Fertiliser, I'm not sure. I've bought some 'horsey' stuff from my Feed store before. Maybe called 'Growmore'?

I know my ground is acidic, so I've been patch testing adding wood ash and lime to see if that will alter the PH a bit as buttercup like acid soil. Will see how much it comes back in the summer!

Hope that's of some help

 

[HappyHooves]

I suspect that the amounts of weedkiller that you need will mean you would have to get a licence to spray and all the 'learning' to get said licence! Can you ask at a local farm? They might help in the spraying but if they are not used to arable, make sure that you have a say in what is sprayed.
Fertilisers are easily bought in 25kg bags from farm stores and spread with a tow along spreader; size to suit the job you have to do. Which fertiliser you need to get will depend on the soil analysis of your soil and what you want to use it for - hay, grazing, resting.
Wish that granular weedkiller was available in bulk as then it would be fine to spread with the tow along!

 

[Kelpie]

thank you - I did wonder if you could buy the "good stuff" without a license? Annoyingly though all the farmers round here are fruit farmers so not much use for spraying for pastures. Maybe I could have a chat with the guy we buy hay from, though Its the buttercups we suffer most from

I did a soil test last year and it's ph was on the acidic side of OK, if that makes sense? Do you normally test each year, tho?

 

[popsdosh]

Buttercups are easily killed with cheaper products than Grazon! we mix our own cocktails here depending on weeds to control for a fraction of the cost of Grazon but the same ingredients!
You need to speak to a local farmer or contractor as you cannot get these products without documentation and holding numbers.

 

[JillA]

I don't have a license and I can buy the good stuff - I do have a holding number though. Licenses are for those who do it for reward, holding numbers are evidence that you aren't going to use the chemicals for nefarious purposes. You can easily get a holding number, check the Defra website. It also has information on what weeds are susceptible to what chemicals.
Ask in your local agricultural suppliers for the best product -for nettles, docks, thistles and easy to kill boradleaved weeds I use a product containing MCPA - buy it in 5 or 10 litre packs, way way cheaper than Grazon 90. For buttercups which have an underground rhizome so are much more resistant, use a product with MCPA plus mecaprop.
I have in the past borrowed a quad with a spray pack - takes hours but costs just a few litres of diesel and I can decide when - but the person who loaned it to me is no longer available. I also have a knapsack sprayer and if you target the worst patches you can get through quite a bit in a season with one of them - if you get the weather. It's a complete waste in the rain so last year I didn't get a lot done.

ETA - I get my ph tested every few years depending on the finances (!) and there is a specialist in liming who will do the lot - test, work out how much you need and deliver and spread.He has been known to say you don't need any He is based near Uttoxeter though, does a lot of the midlands area but I'm not sure how far across the country. Again, ask your agricultural suppliers, they may well know someone, that's how I found this guy.

 

[Kelpie]

ooh, thank you - will see about getting a holding number!