Summer Field- Needs Improvement

 

The field in August. 

There are 3 types of grass shown here, the tallest is a rush or wire grass, the shortest is crabgrass and there is also a type of Bermuda grass in the field.

This field will be over seeded using the technique I will call CDPR, or cultivate, disc, plant, and Roll. I am hoping to reduce the amount of wire grass, and build up the crabgrass as well as start a blend of tall cool season grasses.

At first the field looks overgrazed, but I would call it heavily grazed and needing improvement.  In the picture here, you can see that while a close up shows patches of dirt, from a little farther back, there is enough forage that with some rotation on other fields the horses can graze all summer. 

This field also need to be fertilized. It has been a while since any fertilizer was spread. So after the CDPR process, I will then lightly fertilize once the grass seed is packed.

I rotate fields and sometimes open all pastures. When all of our pastures are open, I will be able to tell where the best grass is and also get an idea whether the field is growing fast enough to maintain the horses. 

I have read articles which state that you should close a field when the grass is down to 3 inches. I hope to get to that point, but currently by the time August rolls around, my pastures are down to about an Inch in height. 

I maintain 3 areas which I never allow to get grazed as heavily and turn the horses out on them when the grass reaches about 6 inches in length. However, currently it is not possible to maintain a rotation which will keep all pastures at the 3 to 6 inch level.

I aim to change this eventually.

This section of pasture is currently blocked off, has been planted and will not be used until late next spring. I have 2 sprinklers which I use to lightly water the grass seed. I will move the sprinklers as the grass gets established. I try to time the planting for a period when we are getting rain on a regular basis. Spring planting these fields is impossible as they are usually too damp to work.

Some articles tell you to plant in late Fall or early Spring. My thoughts are, plant when the weather is good for planting. You can't plan too far ahead, because you can not depend on the weather. This field was planted in August.