Happy Easter

[blackpowder]

Curious if those trees have come and gone since settlement. Here, I think the trees took over after prairie fires stopped.

[Old Cowzilla]

Black poplars leave a heck of a hole to fill in but the worst are those short willow clumps. The roots tuff as nails and travel for 20-30 feet just under the ground. Amazing how things burn up if you can pile and keep adding..

[TSIPP]

I was guessing that clearing bush must be over a grand an acre.
so probably 20 or 30 million dollars?

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Curious if those trees have come and gone since settlement. Here, I think the trees took over after prairie fires stopped.

The oldest old timers here said there was no bush when they came. There had been a recent fire, which likely followed on nearly continuous fires throughout history.
I recently read the same account in a history book on this area, early sawmills had difficulty finding timber. There is a literal island just north of our farm, completely surrounded by muskeg and lake. That escaped the fire and had a sawmill in the early days.

The Rocky Mountain House historical site has a picture from late 1800's I believe it was. Not a tree in the picture, now it is solid bush.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

It’s definitely cheaper to buy cleared land but that’s pretty hard to do out here. With our hills and big poplars I don’t think $1k an acre would pay the dozer/hoe bill to call someone in to walk, pile, burn, and cleanup. Might be closer to $1,500. Then to disk and pick roots/rocks isn’t fun or cheap.

We run our own yellow iron so we don't keep track of time or expenses but I think the improving of the ground is one of the best parts of owning land and farming.

Dad was out playing in the bush yesterday and now it will be much nicer to get cows out of that as a bonus

If you have the livestock, that progression would definitely be the cheapest way to do it. Push it, pile it, and let the cows graze around the piles and stumps and stump holes and roots. Wait 20 or 30 years till the roots and the brush piles are rotted down, then turn it into farmland. Not sure how many decades it would take for the big stumps to ever rot though.
As an added bonus, you don't lose so many nutrients and organic matter to burning it.

[LEP]

Black poplars leave a heck of a hole to fill in but the worst are those short willow clumps. The roots tuff as nails and travel for 20-30 feet just under the ground. Amazing how things burn up if you can pile and keep adding..

BIL had fire go through their pasture. Where the willows were it burned out the roots. Ground sunk a few feet from that. Fought fire for atleast part of every day for almost a month. Roots would be burning and a wind would cause flare-ups.

[WiltonRanch]

If you have the livestock, that progression would definitely be the cheapest way to do it. Push it, pile it, and let the cows graze around the piles and stumps and stump holes and roots. Wait 20 or 30 years till the roots and the brush piles are rotted down, then turn it into farmland. Not sure how many decades it would take for the big stumps to ever rot though.
As an added bonus, you don't lose so many nutrients and organic matter to burning it.

I like that idea. Father posthumously left me some unfinished brushing to clean up. I like the idea of throwing some oats at it and disking them in for the cows to eat. Severe hilly terrain.

[Taiga]

I would say closer to $2500/ac today to have land cleared and made ready to farm.
Yeah those big willow root balls are something else.

[blackpowder]

BIL had fire go through their pasture. Where the willows were it burned out the roots. Ground sunk a few feet from that. Fought fire for atleast part of every day for almost a month. Roots would be burning and a wind would cause flare-ups.

That explains certain ancient burn patches found in soil profiles I've cleared.