The purpose of no-till seeding is to re-establish a strong healthy stand of grass and legumes to cover the ground to prevent soil erosion, muddy ground and provide pasture grazing for animals.
To that end many factors must come into play to achieve the desired good quality end result
1) Evaluate the existing stand to find its strengths and weaknesses.
2) Is the grass stand over grazed (too many animals), too thin, poor existing species, too wet (poor drainage), compacted, weed infested, light ground (sand or gravel), heavy ground (clay), soil PH out of balance, previous fertilization program, manure areas on horse paddocks.
3) Depending on the customers needs and expectations a plan can be established to enhance and manage the pasture stand, a seed recopy and lbs per acre will be recommended; Some well established pasture and paddock mixtures are available and can be easily adjusted to suit most paddock conditions.
4) Seeding is best done in the spring, April/May and in the fall September/October. Frost seeding can be done in the early spring, late March and early April, with the most desirable seeding done by a no-till seeder whereby the seed is placed by into the ground where it will germinate and establish quickly.
5) A fertilization program can be recommended to ensure the renovated stand will get the required nutrients and remain healthy throughout the growing season.
6) A rest period of 6 to 8 weeks is recommended for the renovated stand to establish. However this is often very difficult to achieve due to acreage limitations so, animal management will play a large part of your pasture management.
7) When the grass stand goes to seed it should be clipped down to 6 inches and at that time any manure areas should be spread out. If other pasture is available a short rest would be appropriate at that time (one week) if multi paddocks are available it is always best to rotate the animals between paddocks.
Call Ian for a free estimate 519-843-5786 or email pm_im@hotmail.com
