# Reclaiming hay field



## backcheckus (Aug 2, 2019)

My wife and I just bought a small 30 acre farm that will have a few horses. I plan on putting up my own hay. However, there is a 10 acre field that I must reclaim. I need some advise as t how to go about it. I have attached a few photos showing what I am up against. I'm not sure of the variety of weed that covers the whole field...but the bottom line is that it is a weed. Burning is out of the question here. I have a pretty stout flail mower that can bring it right down. Should I do it now? Spray? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Heck in MY area, that would be round baled and sold as mulch hay. LOL

Cheapest thing to do if you have a flail mower is what I call "intensive mowing". Each time you mow, you should see more grass-like species come back.

Spraying is another option, that adds a little more cost. You'd have to see how much grass you have left once the broadleaf dies off. Later you could begin the mowing process.

I have reclaimed several fields over the years and they were much much worse than your pictures. I had 25' Russian olive trees and terrible weeds. There was very little grass present underneath. Now they are lush green grass fields.

All I did was mow them and rake off the "woody" trash. I also applied a layer of mushroom soil over the winter. By the next year I was haying them.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Seeing how its early and the condition of the field, I might consider a burn down with 2 qt/a of roundup, wait about 10 days, shred tall, wait about 7 days, then do another burn down. My thinking is this gets 90% of the weeds, then allows the remainder to grow enough that the second burn down will be effective.

Alternatively, burn down, work the ground, plant your desired grass under a cover crop such as wheat of oats.

My guess for your area is that preferred planting time is 8/8 to 9/15

Just thinking......

Ralph


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