People with plenty of resources
generally use a road grader or six-way dozer to do this job, but if you
have the use of a farm tractor (the bigger the better, but most any size
will do) you can pile or windrow the rocks and roots with a trash rake.
A straight blade or box blade will probably come in handy as well.
Finally, you'll want to smooth and
till your future field with a disk harrow. When you've done this,
you should have a smooth bed without too many rocks, ready to accept your
seed.
SEEDING YOUR PASTURE
You may be thinking that, if
you're not clearing the land for pasture, then you can just stop there,
but remember that whatever your intentions for your land, you need some
plan to prevent erosion
At this stage, most ranchers will
seed the area with a cover crop, something like winter wheat or rye that
will grow up over the fall and winter, to be disked under for "green
manure" in the spring. This is a good policy because it further
pulverizes the seedbed and adds organic content to the soil as well as
limiting erosion. If you need to add lime to the soil, this is also
the time for that.
Finally, it's time to seed your
pasture.
As with so many things these days,
this is a subject that is fraught with controversy. That's because
of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). Tall Fescue is by far
the most popular pasture grass in all areas of the United States where it
grows well, that is, most of the eastern United States. In fact,
there are 40 million acres of American grassland devoted to Tall Fescue.
Fescue grows well on a wide
variety of soils and persists despite low pH and poor fertility.
Individual plants grow as a bunch grass, but aggressive self-seeding
quickly results in dense sod. These traits make fescue an attractive
choice for lawn, pasture or erosion control plantings, but fescue is also
especially prized by landowners for its ability to bounce-back after
drought or heavy grazing.
Unfortunately, there are some
problems associated with fescue. Problems with foaling mares in
particular, and with "fescue toxicosis"
in grazing animals. Further, fescue grows so well in so many
different soils that it is considered "invasive".
We'll not spend too much time on
the controversy here, but I have included some links below that may help
you make up your mind as to whether to plant fescue or not.
You shouldn't decide one way or another until you've thoroughly investigated both
the advantages and disadvantages of fescue for your situation.
KEEPING IT THAT WAY
Finally, you've bulldozed your
trees, burned the slash, tilled and seeded the ground. Now the
long-term work begins.
Plan on bush-hogging your field at
least once every two years, annually is better, lest it starts to revert
to forest. You may also want to consider "selective" herbicides that
kill broadleaf plants (i.e. weeds) but ignore or even encourage grass to
grow. Of the two, bush-hogging is by far the cheaper method, not to
mention being a lot more ecologically friendly and far more predictable.
Suggested Reading:
"Managing Fescue" by Max Alleger
Minimizing Tall Fescue Toxicity, by Keith D. Johnshon
