converting farm land to pasture

[sandrachx]

we just purchased 6 acres next to our property that has been used in a rotating crop for years. we want to put up a goat structure and move our boer goats to that land since it is higher ground and dryer. need recommendations: do we need to seed in pasture before we put them there? i'm thinking we can put up our structure and some fencing on a portion of the land as is, and seed another area for future grazing.

thoughts?

 

[TwoGoats]

When was the field last planted and plowed? You could fence in an acre or so and get basic cover grass seed down while you build the structure. I seeded a few acres with a standard zero turn mover. I drug a small fence portion behind the mower to work the seed into the dirt. Without ground vegetation, the ground will be very muddy for the goats.

 

[patandchickens]

If it has been cropped "seriously" (anything other than hay), it probably has relatively little existing weed/grass growth, and would be wisest for you to seed it. Ask locally (extension service, feedstore, etc) about what's best to seed it with, given your climate and your particular soil, since it varies.

The thing is it's really by far best to keep animals off newly seeded pastures for at least two seasons, preferably a year. Otherwise the plants never really get established well and you have a permanently-languishing weedy pasture that poops out quite easily in drought, overgrazing, etc etc.

So if it is possible, you'd want to seed the whole area now YET keep the stock off of as much as possible for as long as possible.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[sandrachx]

When was the field last planted and plowed? You could fence in an acre or so and get basic cover grass seed down while you build the structure. I seeded a few acres with a standard zero turn mover. I drug a small fence portion behind the mower to work the seed into the dirt. Without ground vegetation, the ground will be very muddy for the goats.

it had soybean on it last year. i just thought dry land was better than the wet land they are now on. it's the lowest spot of our property, near woods and wetlands, so i wanted to move them quicker than later. and i was planning on just fencing in a small area until the ground accepted the seed and flourished, rotating them from paddock areas.

need to do some thinkin' on this . . .