Horse Pasture Renovation

[Barley]

Anyone have experience renovating horse pastures? I have about 8,000 sq ft that I'd like to play with to see the best way to do it. In a pinch I do have access to a water source, but can definitely not water 3x a day every day. I realize the kind of grass in a pasture mix is different than a normal lawn, so I'm hoping they require less water and germinate faster than say, KBG.

I am starting with basically a construction zone from last Spring, where dirt was move around every which way. Then over the summer mostly weeds sprung up. The land is relatively smooth (maybe not for a lawn, but for a pasture should be ok). I don't really know where to start, so I'd like some advice. Here's what I'm thinking, can you tell me if I am on the right track?

1. Spring: soil test, nuke
2. Summer: Amend soil, (fallow?), nuke and scalp in late summer
3. Late Summer/Early fall: reseed

Questions:
Can I enjoy any amount of success if I just nuke and reseed this Spring?
Should I forget nuking and just treating for weeds then overseeding?
Does Pasture land need the same soil chemistry as lawns?
Can I get away without any watering?
Can I broadcast seed or do I need a slit seeder?
How soon after reseeding do you think I can have my horses start using the pasture?

Based on my experience doing this 8,000 sq ft section, I will try to tackle 2 other larger (1+ acre each) pastures in 2012 and 2013. These pastures are very uneven and will require some discing. We'll cross that bridge when we get there

Thanks!

[GaryCinChicago]

A home lawn uses 'turf grass' seed. Ryes, fescues, blue grasses, etc.
A pasture uses this http://www.pawneebuttesseed.com/seedlis ... reclam.htm

Call Dennis over there and talk to him about what you want to do. It's slow right now - he'll have time to chat and can make recommendations.

[clay&crabgrass]

http://www.ruralking.com/seed-pasture-m ... 3330303834

http://www.hancockseed.com/application- ... b-406.html
( Endophyte-free Tall Fescue keeps the horses from getting gas)

http://www.farmseeds.com/management/grazing-horses.html

some examples and additional reading about horse pastures. seems common for farmers to use a seed drill and cultipacker for a project like that.

[John_in_SC]

Nutrients in pastures are critical to the health and development of your livestock.... This is a subject that has been researched quite a bit.... Most of the literature seems to point towards the animals being healthier if their forage has plenty of nutrients rather than getting it out of a block or vitamins.... Testing your soil and amending as needed will go a long way towards this goal....

The next thing that's important is bio-diversity.... You need to provide a large variety of things to eat - as different plants provide different nutrients..... and different things are needed at different times of the year... Compare this to your average lawn - where we really want to limit such things.... Stuff that we consider "Weeds" - livestock consider "Delicious".... and vice versa... Its a very different animal than growing a lawn....

Thanks

[Barley]

I'm going to take some soil samples for testing in the next week or two. Should I take the samples from 3" down (like for lawns), or 6" down (like for agricultural uses)? At first thought I assumed 6", but then again horse pasture is mainly a mix of grasses. Maybe I should split the difference and go 4-5" inches down?

[andy10917]

The BIG question is "what are you going to grow there?". You want to measure the middle of the root zone of whatever you are growing.

It's that easy.

[Barley]

I believe the pasture mix I was looking at was a mix of Hallmark Orchardgrass, Tetraploid Perennial Ryegrass, Timothy, KBG (not sure what kind...probably a common cultivar), and some Ladino white clover. I listed them in descending order by weight.

I briefly looked up these grasses to try to find their root zones. So far the only thing I know for sure are that KBG is around 3" and white clover is "shallow". ANyone know about the other grasses? They will be the most plentiful so I'd like to get as close to their root zones as possible.