With all the heavy rains we've had this late summer/fall, there is constant standing water all over the pastures, and nothing right across the fence in cropland. Hayland being somewhere in between.
I did some winter time trenching, 8 feet deep a few years ago. Canola stubble was easy digging, got to old abandoned farm yard, even areas with very little traffic in years past, and digging was impossible, I assumed it was from the canola sucking up all the moisture, and therefore less frost, the nearly native grassland was still full of moisture and frozen deep. The difference was drastic.
Grassfarmer, I like your thinking, and practice rotational/intensive grazing here. Most pastures are now down to twice a year for a few days each. The hard clay soils still don't grow any grass. The theory is good, but there needs to be enough material growing to leave a layer of thatch and to make roots for it to work. My theory behind deep ripping pastures is to get the water to go in, oxygen in and allow roots to go down. Then let nature take over from there.
In this area, pasture season is typically always too wet, and cows feet are very effective packers. I think adding snow shoes to the cows feet would solve the compaction problem........ IF there were a way to keep cows out of pastures when wet, the results would be much different, but many years we would never get to use any pastures.
I did some winter time trenching, 8 feet deep a few years ago. Canola stubble was easy digging, got to old abandoned farm yard, even areas with very little traffic in years past, and digging was impossible, I assumed it was from the canola sucking up all the moisture, and therefore less frost, the nearly native grassland was still full of moisture and frozen deep. The difference was drastic.
Grassfarmer, I like your thinking, and practice rotational/intensive grazing here. Most pastures are now down to twice a year for a few days each. The hard clay soils still don't grow any grass. The theory is good, but there needs to be enough material growing to leave a layer of thatch and to make roots for it to work. My theory behind deep ripping pastures is to get the water to go in, oxygen in and allow roots to go down. Then let nature take over from there.
In this area, pasture season is typically always too wet, and cows feet are very effective packers. I think adding snow shoes to the cows feet would solve the compaction problem........ IF there were a way to keep cows out of pastures when wet, the results would be much different, but many years we would never get to use any pastures.
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