- Thread starter russ_offord
- Start date
How To Plant Pasture Grass Seed Without Using Heavy Machinery?
I have read the thread which I found interesting and thought that I would share my experience rearing tropical cattle for over 15 years.
I always use tractors to turn the soil as its the best and most effective way to eliminate established weeds. Planting after plowing is also more uniform and produces better results. Its also good for adding organic matter like wood cuttings whilst plowing and making drainage channels.
Guinea grass is good but I prefer the Brazilian San Ramon. It has greater yield for fattening but not as resistant as the Guinea. I have Guinea next to the river as it does well there in the sandy soil.
I have planted manually on occasion like the time I cut a Acacia tree plantation and was left with many stumps. The tractor could not enter so I told my guy to plant San Ramon in clumps about 2m apart. It took longer to establish the pasture and greater work removing weeds both manually and with herbicide but I got there in the end. I would also throw several sacks of 15-15-15 fertiliser with the seeds and also when the field is established. Most fields have around a 7 year cycle where the weeds become so established that plowing is required. Good luck
I always use tractors to turn the soil as its the best and most effective way to eliminate established weeds. Planting after plowing is also more uniform and produces better results. Its also good for adding organic matter like wood cuttings whilst plowing and making drainage channels.
Guinea grass is good but I prefer the Brazilian San Ramon. It has greater yield for fattening but not as resistant as the Guinea. I have Guinea next to the river as it does well there in the sandy soil.
I have planted manually on occasion like the time I cut a Acacia tree plantation and was left with many stumps. The tractor could not enter so I told my guy to plant San Ramon in clumps about 2m apart. It took longer to establish the pasture and greater work removing weeds both manually and with herbicide but I got there in the end. I would also throw several sacks of 15-15-15 fertiliser with the seeds and also when the field is established. Most fields have around a 7 year cycle where the weeds become so established that plowing is required. Good luck
You might be interested in a friend's company that has some info in general for enthusiasts: Native American Seed.com
They're located in Texas, yes, a totally different environment, but share the enthusiasm and maybe some other things.
They were just here 6 months ago and aren't alien to the local scene. Talk to Bill or wife Jan.
They're located in Texas, yes, a totally different environment, but share the enthusiasm and maybe some other things.
They were just here 6 months ago and aren't alien to the local scene. Talk to Bill or wife Jan.
Well folks, I somehow got I subscribed from my own thread, so I missed out on a lot of good advise. However, here is what I went with...
I managed to find the guinea 'Tanzania' seed at a greatly discounted price through a promotion with a local Nestle 'lechera'. Instead of RD$455/lb, I paid about RD$245/lb for 55lbs (25kg). From research I did on Guinea seed, that was more than enough to cover 100 tareas (about 0.5 lb / tarea would have been plenty, theoretically.
I decided to use the colin and bottle method, where the workers stab/slice the ground then sprinkle seed mixed with sand via holes in the water bottle lids. This method proved to be VERY time consuming. I had 5 Haitan workers going all day and they barely got 1/2 of one of three fields done! Also, with out my knowledge they made the holes much larger, so that instead of a few seeds being sown at once, maybe 20-30 were being poured into each 'slice'. :S They blew through the 1st of 3 bags with such little ground covered... I was fairly disappointed.
So, the next day I gave up on 'planting' and went with spreading by throwing the seed ... and I instructed the workers that the bag had to last for the entire pasture section. Well, that didn't work well, either, in terms of how much seed was used per tarea. Without doing it myself, it was very hard to control the amounts used. I think I only got about 1/2 the amount of coverage I was hoping for AT BEST.
Well, US$300+ in seed and very little coverage + cost of labour... Kinda left a bad taste in my mouth... But at least I'll know better for next time. Like a previous poster mentioned... It IS hard for a gringo to 'work land' around here! (And I would add... much more costly, too!)
I managed to find the guinea 'Tanzania' seed at a greatly discounted price through a promotion with a local Nestle 'lechera'. Instead of RD$455/lb, I paid about RD$245/lb for 55lbs (25kg). From research I did on Guinea seed, that was more than enough to cover 100 tareas (about 0.5 lb / tarea would have been plenty, theoretically.
I decided to use the colin and bottle method, where the workers stab/slice the ground then sprinkle seed mixed with sand via holes in the water bottle lids. This method proved to be VERY time consuming. I had 5 Haitan workers going all day and they barely got 1/2 of one of three fields done! Also, with out my knowledge they made the holes much larger, so that instead of a few seeds being sown at once, maybe 20-30 were being poured into each 'slice'. :S They blew through the 1st of 3 bags with such little ground covered... I was fairly disappointed.
So, the next day I gave up on 'planting' and went with spreading by throwing the seed ... and I instructed the workers that the bag had to last for the entire pasture section. Well, that didn't work well, either, in terms of how much seed was used per tarea. Without doing it myself, it was very hard to control the amounts used. I think I only got about 1/2 the amount of coverage I was hoping for AT BEST.
Well, US$300+ in seed and very little coverage + cost of labour... Kinda left a bad taste in my mouth... But at least I'll know better for next time. Like a previous poster mentioned... It IS hard for a gringo to 'work land' around here! (And I would add... much more costly, too!)
