Chapter 3

Improving & Maintaining Pastures

It is possible to assess the health of the pasture, even before it is analyzed. A preponderance of dock, capeweed, buttercup, onion grass, oxalis, hoary cress, heliotrope — any or all of these — means that the soil is starved of humus (organic matter), the calcium to magnesium ratio is way out of balance, and the same for the pH. The analysis will reveal the lime mineral imbalances, and the paddock may need calcium and/or magnesium and/or gypsum in order to regain a healthy state.

Bracken is another sign of poor soil, which likely will be low in potassium and lacking in soil nutrients. It is not necessary to spray to get rid of bracken; organic matter such as manure and compost, remineralization and aerating soil will send it packing. In Europe a little bracken in the paddock used to be considered medicinal for any animal that needed it.

At this stage it would be a waste of time and money to buy expensive seed and sow the paddock down. The seed might possibly grow the first year, but as conditions were not suitable for it, there would be no regeneration. Good quality grasses only grow in well balanced soil — a fact that is rarely, if ever, pointed out by the people who sell the seed. A rough rule is that the hairy type of grasses are low in nutrients and of poor quality, while the harder, smoother grasses are of higher feed value.

The first step is to have a soil analysis done and topdress with the required lime minerals to bring the calcium and magnesium into their correct ratio, and then the pH will follow. When the paddock is right, the pH should be around 6.0-6.5. In soils very low in calcium, it is inadvisable to put on more than a ton of lime to the acre onto pasture; half a ton of gypsum or dolomite can be added if required, but no more. Further application will have to be done in successive years. Large amounts of lime lock up the immediate magnesium (no matter how high in the soil) to the point where the animals will become very ill. I have had to deal with three cases of this happening recently; in each case, the advisor knew nothing of the reaction that takes place in animals grazing such a paddock. We were lucky not to lose the animals concerned (horses and goats).

The use of a soil aerator will greatly accelerate soil improvement. On heavy soils the Wallace/Yeomans type of aerators, with feet that aerate about eight inches below the surface, are excellent. On light, sandy soils the roller type with tynes sticking out all round are safer and will not cause erosion. I found after using a Wallace Soil Conditioner on really sour soil that the recovery in the type of growth started to show up in six months. Its action in renovating the soil appears to be equal to a quarter of a ton of lime minerals (whichever are needed) per annum per acre.

Another important factor is to always replace the organic matter in the soil. Even quite healthy looking paddocks are nearly always lacking in humus (decayed vegetable matter in the ground) and will respond amazingly to being treated with organic manures. Bracken only grows on depleted soils and ceases to be a problem as soon as the paddock is top-dressed with organic manure. I found this out by accident, as my previous farm was one- third covered with bracken.

As usual, I spread the manure from the sheds over the farm, wondering if there would be three-yard high bracken next year — to my amazement there was only a little weak growth and the bracken ceased to be a problem from then on. The ideal is to compost the manure first, but in starved Australian soils, uncomposted horse, sheep or cow manure is better than nothing.

Care should be taken in one's choice of manure. Chicken or pig manure from intensive systems, which are using sawdust, tends to acidify the soil, rice hulls are better in manure. There is also a possibility of contamination from growth hormones and/or antibiotics which are sometimes used in these operations. Sawdust based manure can be used if the pH is monitored regularly and dolomite or lime are spread at intervals to counter any acidity. The very good commercial grower with whom I served an apprenticeship during and after World War II would not allow chicken or pig manure to be used unless it had been composted for at least a year, preferably two.

Stable manure, slurry from cow or pig operations, and goat manure are all very good for pasture improvement — uncomposted it should only go out under a crop or on a paddock which is not being grazed, prior to being shut up for hay. Ideally any manure should be left to compost, or piled in a trailer and left to heat up before spreading, but fresh manure is better than none.

After many years of spreading both horse and goat manure on the paddocks, I have never found that the practice caused an upsurge in the internal worm populations of either animal. Possibly the reason is that the soil health is so improved by the practice that the earthworms, dung beetles and soil bacteria become very active in breaking down the manure. They then utilize it below the surface where it belongs, thereby stopping fecal contamination. The difference in the pasture before and after applications of organic manure can be very marked — the spring grass will become much thicker and be a deep green instead of the rather livid bright color to which most of us have become accustomed in conventionally fertilized fields.

The soil aerator/conditioner can double as a sod seeder when the soil has been improved enough to sow good grasses. However, this may not be necessary as one of the rewarding aspects of regenerating one's pasture is that species of grass that were not present initially, suddenly reappear as the health of the soil suits them. This may sound unlikely, but it has happened on a number of farms under this program. The undesirables disappear and the good species take over.

In the United States it has been found that the unwanted couch-type grasses ceased to be a problem once the pH reached a level of 6.0 and above. This is also true in Australia where these grasses retire pretty soon once the lime minerals are brought into balance.

There is an erroneous and widespread belief that the more clover there is in the pasture, the better. Clover can, on the contrary, often be quite lethal. Excessive use of artificial fertilizers is usually the cause. The horses (or any other animal) grazing such a pasture would rapidly become sick, and a host of illnesses related to calcium/magnesium deficiencies would take over. Clover in a paddock should comprise no more than half the herbage present. Horses do not show any preference for clover, and would only be induced to eat too much if they were very hungry. Legumes are needed for nitrogen fixation, but a paddock too high in nitrogen is not healthy. Artificial nitrogen should not ever be used on horse or any other animal paddocks under any circumstances.

Another often neglected aspect of pasture management is the provision of adequate stands of trees. These are obviously necessary for shade, but they also improve the health of the soil by bringing up nutrients from deep down. Trees also help to equalize the temperature, so that excesses of cold or heat are avoided. Fodder trees such as alfalfa (Tagasaste) and casuarinas can be planted with advantage; the former prefer well-drained to dry soils and will not grow with wet feet. They are also totally allergic to any form of glyphosate, and can indeed be used as an indicator of its presence. In wetter areas, willows make excellent fodder reserves and will grow quite happily with their roots in water.

It is probable that in more fertile countries horses, with the exception of brumbies and mustangs, would rarely eat trees and leaves. But in Australia, where conditions can be very hard, riding horses of all kinds will, if they get the chance, eat quite a few of the palatable trees and bushes. Making sure that horses receive the copper they need, ensures that one's trees will not be stripped.

Pat Coleby's Natural Cures for Top-10 Horse Ailments

Chapter 1, "Soil Deficiencies"

Chapter 3, "Improving and Maintaining Pastures"

Chapter 6, "Non-Invasive & Natural Remedies with Notes on Drugs"

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