Old Field/Early Successional areas
- Thread starter BenA
- Start date
Boll Weevil
5 year old buck +
Drift may also be an issue in hilly ground due to the changes in elevation, wind, volitalization, or thermals. The rig operator is on the hook if non-targets get smoked...and depending on the chemical and surrounding ag could nuke crops miles away.
BenA
5 year old buck +
Erosion mainly. He said the old timer's around there say fescue is what saved that country.
What if you sprayed around the early green up period next spring? You could do some disking or mild soil disturbance to get the seed bank going. Also, consider doing smaller patches at a time if you're scared of erosion. Or plant something after you spray. Lastly, as open is that is, why are you afraid to burn? You could easily disk some breaks and burn in sections. I had the forestry folks help me with my first, but I'll be doing some on my own this in a few days.
Bill
Administrator
I’d want to talk to some more locals. If you wanted to spray and plant beans for the next two years I’d agree that much slope and that ground would slip away. Spraying once and seeding it down? I don’t think it will all wash away. That grass has root matter holding the soil that won’t evaporate over night after you kill it.
Worst case do strips across the slope. After the nwsg takes go back and get the strips you left. Personally, I don’t think that’s necessary.
BenA
5 year old buck +
He also said he didn't know if his booms would hit in spots because of how long they were. He's checking with the guy that actually sprays it to see if he has something else that will work.
I may just have to get out there with my backpack sprayer, but 16 acres is going to take awhile.
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BenA
5 year old buck +
I wasn't going to seed it.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Ask around town and see if you can get someone else to look at it. That doesn’t look too steep to me. Ask at Day and Day and also ask at the feed store on the right of 80 at Russell Springs. I will also PM you a F&w guy at TAylor Co to talk with.
BenA
5 year old buck +
Thanks Steve. I talked to Chris Mason, the private lands biologist for our area, and he gave me the name of a guy to call. I left him a message. Good idea about Day & Day.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
He is a top notch guy and all around fine person. He will help you.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
@BenAllgood, what did you end up doing with these hills? I am in a very similar situation. Matter of fact, I thought for a minute that one of your photos was a photo I took on my new farm!
I am looking to start transitioning some of my hills to NWSG and forbs, and based on everything I have read, you may not even need to plant the NWSG mixtures if you don't mind other forbs being in the stand.
BenA
5 year old buck +
I ended up going with an EQIP pollinator program on most of it. They gave me contacts that did planting and spraying. I planted almost no grasses, but it is THICK now. I need to thin them if I want more forbs. There's pollinator species in there, but I'm afraid they're being choked out. I've got a couple areas that were in food plots in the fields that I've let go. Those areas have more forbs, but are still great cover/food. In those, I basically just did a late summer/early fall disking.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
Would you mind sharing what the cost for the service was compared to the payment from the EQIP? Did the service plant grasses or did you get credit for the grasses that naturally came up?
BenA
5 year old buck +
A quick look had me receiving about $1k/acre, and I still have some left over for maybe some spraying and burning. It paid more than it cost me. I contracted everything out on that project too. I didn't get credit for the grasses that came up naturally.
