Smoothing out a pasture...

I am using my land for pasture and currently can only drive in one direction across it (with any comfort).

I was thinking of lightly discing it, maybe 2"-3" deep each time I mow it. I don't want to pure'e the topsoil due to fear of severe erosion and also because I don't want to destroy the chunks of good grass I have already.

What....pray tell what..... .can I or should I do fellas??? :)

Gordo

Gordo

Try disking the high spots a few times then hitting it with a harrow. Might have to go crossways of the old rows and drag the loose dirt down in the furrows.

If you have bermuda it will come back pretty fast from the old roots even if you cover it pretty deep. Course you could add some seed just to thicken it up and get a faster coverage. Bermuda seed will come up in about 7 days with this warm weather.

Otherwise, you plow the whole thing up, disc it, drag it, possibly pull a long piece of heavy pipe or I-beam around to really smooth it off, seed it, and roll it.

If you can't afford to dig it up for fear of erosion, then you live with it being rough, I'm afraid.

Where in the country, what kind of grass, what kind of livestock?

Did you ask a similar question earlier?

This feild is ROUGH and for almost 15 acres. I beleive it was a cane feild at one time, that or soybean. Either way there are some hellacious rows and it's ridiculous trying to drive my truck across the feild. The rows aren't sharp but have indeed leveled out from time. I am still left with 15" rows standing 5" high or higher in some parts. There is a slight slope to my place but only toward the back and sides and that drains into a little bayou that borders me. This is where I'm fearful of losing my topsoil.

My plan was to shred/mow with one M and have my little brother follow me in the other with the discs. This would compost some of the grass I'd be cutting by working it back in and hopefully seeding at the same time.

Spreading seed while I'm doing this as mentioned above is a GREAT idea although I have no seeder. Is there a homemade unit I can make? I could possibly take a few of those home walk behind spreaders and rig them to pull behind the discs. I could even make a frame to hang a 5 gallon bucket of seed and use PVC and some smooth flexible tubing to pipe the seed into each hopper. Might be a good rig perhaps????? Either way, if I can do all of this in one sweep then I'd prefer it.

For everyones info, I have a combination of St Augustine and Bermuda in one and two acre chuinks all around the place. I have 23 acres total and I'm in Branch, Louisiana, in Acadia parish (zip code 70516).

And yep Andy...I thought for sure I posted this question earlier but I couldn't find it for some reason????? I am at the computer off and on but I always do come back and check the responses and comment when I'm back online. I can't figure out where the other one went though? :-/

I'll have to scoot until tommorrow afternoon so be assured that I will be checking back to this! :)

We have a fertilize spreader that broadcasts seed. It is a three point hookup and runs off the pto. Bermuda seed is a small seed so if your spreader doesnt have a setting small enough then mix the seed with some dry sand, like mortor sand. Corn meal also works good and isnt as heavy.

Lots of conpanies make small broadcast spreaders that would work for seed. I have also put tape over part of the hole to restrict the bermuda seed from pouring out to fast.

After the seed is out you might use a harrow over it but I have had good luck just seeding and nothing else.

Theres some good hyrid bermuda seed out now thats more like you see on golf courses if you not useing the area for pasture. Panama is the one I sell, real fine texture to it. Lots more expensive than common.