Reclaiming large old field, pasture

[Turkish]

If things continue to go well, I’ll be acquiring a piece of land in SW MS that has close to 20 acres of old pasture. It’s currently comprised of mostly 20-ft sweetgum, lots of grasses (noticed water grass in wet spots and lots of tall fescue) some young pine.

The area is mostly closed canopy hardwood forest, so a maintained early successional area would be a real calling card. Also, to have so much open ground is uncommon in my area and would add a ton of usability and appeal to this tract. The last Google earth image that shows clean ground was 2010, so it’s probably been let go for 12ish years.

To begin with the best way to reclaim this from the woody encroachment? What’s the first 24 months look like? I’m think that a helicopter application of herbicide is likely my best bet. That’s in my budget; mulching the whole thing likely is not What time of year is optimal for the aerial treatment? Then what are the next steps?

I feel like this is an area I’ll want to get started on quickly, while other improvements may wait until I can enlist some NRCS help, guidance.

 

[SwampCat]

Might also look at drone herbicide application. Not sure about price comparison. Just had a drone operator quote me $750 for aerial seeding 40 acres - I supply seed.

Either way - what is your plan after herbicide application? Going to be a mess with all that dead material out there. Burn it?

 

[Turkish]

Might also look at drone herbicide application. Not sure about price comparison. Just had a drone operator quote me $750 for aerial seeding 40 acres - I supply seed.

Either way - what is your plan after herbicide application? Going to be a mess with all that dead material out there. Burn it?

Well, that’s the part I’m most interested in some advice about.

 

[SwampCat]

I have mulched something similar and there was a real problem with stump sprouts and then sprayed it afterwards with my tractor and pto sprayer. Not real sure, but I think maybe an aerial herbicide application and let it sit for a year and then a burn may be the least expensive - especially if you can handle the burning. Not really sure how clean that is going to get it if planning to use equipment in there. If just wanting to maintain it as an opening for a few years - a couple years of annual burning may be the easiest way to clean it after the initial herbicide application. The ground I had mulched was equipment ready when they got done. I did have to spray two years in a row and bush hog the stump sprouts after spraying. No doubt, mulching can be pricey.

Keep us updated - interesting project.

 

[Turkish]

I have mulched something similar and there was a real problem with stump sprouts and then sprayed it afterwards with my tractor and pto sprayer. Not real sure, but I think maybe an aerial herbicide application and let it sit for a year and then a burn may be the least expensive - especially if you can handle the burning. Not really sure how clean that is going to get it if planning to use equipment in there. If just wanting to maintain it as an opening for a few years - a couple years of annual burning may be the easiest way to clean it after the initial herbicide application. The ground I had mulched was equipment ready when they got done. I did have to spray two years in a row and bush hog the stump sprouts after spraying. No doubt, mulching can be pricey.

Keep us updated - interesting project.

If I can get the deal closed, hopefully I can be as diligent and productive as others on the board and make a land tour thread.

 

[FarmerDan]

You want the 20-ft sweetgums gone?

 

[Turkish]

You want the 20-ft sweetgums gone?

I believe so. In another 10 years much of this will be an overstocked, closed canopy young gum forest.

 

[FarmerDan]

I believe so. In another 10 years much of this will be an overstocked, closed canopy young gum forest.

I am having a hard time envisioning your desired outcome. You mention the advantages of having a maintained early successional area. What's missing now? The early part? And/or the maintained part? Of do you want cropland-like ground?

 

[Turkish]

Good questions and I appreciate any recalibration the board might suggest. I’ve been indoctrinated to treat sweetgum like an exotic, in general, and I know that control is most easily done when they’re young. That’s probably what’s driving this.

The abundance of grass may honestly be more of a problem right now than the sweetgum. But the gums are growing fast and will soon be beyond my ability to control without heavier equipment and another level of investment.

My dream would be a maintainable ‘old field’ type area that I could chop up into sections and plant food plots, burn, mow, or strip disk if I wanted. I really don’t want it all to turn into more woodland, forest.

 

[FarmerDan]

OK. I guess I got confused by the desire to aerial spray. I guess killing trees that way is possible. I just don't know how. On one hand 20 acres is a lot of ground to cover but it really isn't. I had a five acre field growing sweetgums maybe 15 ft tall. I love a handheld rope wick applicator. I filled it the a mix of half gly and half water. Then I simply wiped the rope and and down the sapling trunk a couple feet. Two strokes. Walked five acres in less than 90 minutes. Those trees were dead within three weeks.

 

[jsasker007]

Not everyone has the option of an excavator but that would be what I would do. Scrape off the small trees and create a couple large critter piles. Or pile it all up and burn it. Can also grab the trees and pull them too if you have a thumb on the bucket. A week or two and you're done. jmo

 

[SwampCat]

Not sure a out the rest of the country, but in twelve yr old successional field area in my country I could see three or four hundred trees per acre. 6000 trees or more to hand treat would be pretty daunting to me. Mechanical clear - while probably the quickest way to a workable field , is also going to be the most expensive

 

[Turkish]

Man l think it would take me a month of 10 hour days to basal treat all these trees. Most have branches all the way to ground level and are surrounded by chest high brambles.

Aerial treatment seems to be the preferred plantation pine site prep method here nowadays. Seems cheaper than skidder mounted sprayers to boot. However, that’s usually done before the competition is this far out of hand. Though, I think skidders are used within mid-rotation pine plantations for sweetgum chemical treatment, where aerial treatment isn’t doable.

 

[Turkish]

Bumping this back up. Anybody think a dormant season burn may be a good first step to maybe take care of the brambles, then go after the trees?