# No-till or minimum till hay production methods?



## SvdSinner (Nov 25, 2009)

I recently started looking after a local field that is used for a local city's well heads for their water supply. It was a hayfield 6-8 years ago, but has been neglected since then.

The city has no interest in allowing full-scale industrial farming directly above their water supply's source wells, so I've been doing some minor harvesting of existing grasses in the weed free parts of the field. (I pay no rent, and get to keep the hay as payment for mowing the field, but am expected not to use chemicals on the field.) If I wasn't "the farmer who lives right by the field," they probably wouldn't consider letting me near the field, because they are very concerned about some profit-crazed farmer destroying their water supply by spraying chemicals onto the field that will get into their water.

I'm trying to come up with a 5-year plan to rejuvenate the field and improve the quality of hay in an ecologically friendly manner, meaning that I probably can't till up the entire thing and start from scratch anytime I want. At best, I might be able to till up and reseed 10-20% of the field each year and replant small portions, but the lower impact my methods are, the happier the city will be.

My rough idea is to try to overseed with some blend of legumes and grasses that will thrive enough to pressure the weeds out, and will work together to not deplete the soil. I know there are lots of grazing strategies that can accomplish this (mob grazing, etc.), but I won't be allowed to graze animals on their well fields.

Does anyone have any sources of knowledge for a strategy like this? Has anyone tried anything like this?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I would see if Round Up would be ok to use being there is no residual.And no concern of ground water contamination according to Monsanto.

If thats a no go.Maybe take out a section a yr and keep it black with tillage to get rid of any weeds and sod.And then reseed it.

No tilling into sod it would be hard to get things going depending on how thick it is.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

I would think a lot depends on how fast you want to get it into production and how much production you would like.

If roundup is a no-go, you might try controlled burns and mowing. Burning at specific times of the year, like late winter/early spring, can knock certain weeds down, but getting approval and the right conditions can be tough. Mowing just when weeds start to produce the seed head can reduce weed pressure, but the timing is tricky and can take multiple years.

I would be more concerned about soil compaction and fertility. If the field was in hay, it's probably pretty compacted. And, with a SWAG, fertility was probably let slide.

You might write a contract with city for 5 years of maintenance in exchange for them allowing you to till, grow and harvest an alfalfa or alfalfa/orchardgrass hay crop. Maybe by specifying one-time tillage, they would tend to be more agreeable to allowing you to work the ground up. Alfalfa and alfalfa/grass mix don't require additional nitrogen, so there would be no chance of nitrogen contamination in their wells. 5 years would be a reasonable life expectancy for a hay field. The downside to alfalfa is that you may need to spray for insects which may be a no-no.

If none of the above are acceptable, you might try keeping it mowed real short, like once a week, then no-tilling orchardgrass or fescue, along with some mammoth red clover, in late August along with 30-50 lbs of nitrogen to get a good stand started.

The biggest problem will be getting ahead of the weed's seed bank--some weed seeds can stay viable for 5 years or more.

Just some thoughts.

Ralph


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## Hay Patch (Oct 3, 2010)

I did not want to start a whole debate online about organics, but thought that an organic program with the legumes would be a more suitable approach for your situation. We have started using Watson Ranch Organics. After some research I felt like Watson has the most complete organic program. The following is a link to their site. Watson Ranch Organic Soil Amendments Affordable alternative to Chemical Fertilizers!! 
As far as Roundup, check out the following http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/ga...stion/id/3632/
This site has all kinds of info. 
The USDA/NRCS can probably give you some assistance in providing info to the city to make them more comfortable to organic programs and the enviromental impact to the area. 
Hope this helpful,


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

I have gone in as early as I can in the spring before the grass starts growing and interseeded medium red clover, and bull birdsfoot trefoil into sod using a no till drill and had good luck with that. If you think they will let you till the 10 or 20% at a time then you could start a late summer fallow program after last cutting and just seed in the spring, I have done this enough times relying on the tillage rather then round up for burn down. At the worst your perrenials will come up and annuals always do anyways. Annual and tetraploid Italian ryegrasses are often inter seeded into existing sod for pastures and hay crops to rejuvenate a field with good success. I have good luck with Italian.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

rjmoses has a pretty good ideal with the burning. Might try burning it off early spring as possible, then see if you can get access to a flamer and flame off any regrowth then plant your crop.

Alfalfa/grass crop will need at the very least supplemental potash, so I'd check with the city on what their positions is on that. If they want you to use no fertilizers or chemicals, I wouldn't waste my time on trying to establish anything but what is already there. Maybe mow the weedy areas and bale it up for use for erosion control.

If you do get alfalfa established might look into leaf hopper resistant strains. You could also check with the city and see if the use of organic Neem oil is okay for pest control.


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