# Helping a cattle pasture



## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

Hey guys,

I no tilled some fescu and rye into one of my pastures this past fall and I was not happy with the results. I put out plenty of seed and fertilized according to soil tests. I believe I need to break up the hard pan a little bit but am not sure about how I should do it. Could I run a disc over it this winter and let the cattle do their job or is this a job I need to do in the spring or fall?

Kyle


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I would hold on a little while and see if the fescue and ryegrass do not come out strong in the late winter/early spring.

I drilled some fescue/clover in new ground, a prepared seed bed and it has done well.

I drilled the same mix, same settings in an established pasture and it is not doing very well. Some of the grass is just beginning to come up and is spotty.

I believe the dry fall played a roll. I am thinking once a little warmer weather arrives it will come out better.

Two of my friends are complaining about the same thing. I am banking on all of our grass doing well later on.


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## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

Thanks Tim. Where in Alabama are you located?

Kyle


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I am about 25 miles north of Birmingham.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

I'd bet on the ryegrass coming on a little bit stronger in the spring. Ive tried no tilling grasses into pastures with mixed results. Clovers,peas, and orchard grass has always done well for me while timothy, sudan, and others haven't. Maybe it has something to do with my packing wheels, ground speed, irregular depth, or some other variable. I no tilled some Garibaldi 2 years ago didn't see it come up at all that fall. It was real sparse the following spring. This past year it came in beautifully.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

If you worried about a hard pan take a shovel or a post hole digger or a rod and do some digging and see if you have a hard pan. Than if you do figure out a way to break it up. Some of my pasture will get a real hard pan about 4 inches down from the cattle walking and packing it down. This is on sandy land and it will get hard very hard. Almost like sand stone. A disc will just slide on the top, need to do some deep tillage on that. But your soil may differ.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Kyle, they used to make a tool called a pasture renovator. They were good tools but did not go deep enough for me. Our plow pan is about 8" here. I now use a 4 shank Great Plains no till ripper on my pastures and some hay land that is being replanted. You can really see the difference where the field was ripped and where it was not. I try to do it in the fall and it has really helped with compaction. It takes 50 hp per shank in our red clay land. I also plant ( no till ) cereal rye that helps a lot with compaction also. Good luck in whatever you do. Best, Mike


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