- Our services
- Soil audits & balancing
- Soil aeration
- Pasture conditioning & fertilising
- Cultivation & re-seeding
- Paddock topping
- Regeneration of wooded areas
- Weed management
Bare dusty paddocks can contribute to animal ill-health e.g. equine colic, respiratory stress, eye infections, etc.
Organic matter is full of nutrients and minerals, so returning it to the soil after paddock topping is an important part of keeping your soil balanced.
Cultivation & re-seeding
Cultivation can be used effectively in a number of circumstances:
- In severely compacted ground. Cultivating and seeding of affected areas can be the most cost effective method of addressing the problem.
- Areas that have been completely overrun with weeds, not giving the pasture an opportunity to grow. In these cases, once the soil is in balance it can be useful to give the pasture a kick start by turning the weeds into the soil, and planting an appropriate mixture of pasture seeds and legumes.
- Changing the stock on a property. Most smallholdings were historically large holdings used for a specific farming purpose. This can mean that the grass types on the land are not particularly good for the type of animals that you intend to graze.
For example, most of the Samford Valley was used for dairy cattle, supplying milk to the greater Brisbane area. The grass that was good for dairy cattle is generally high sugar C3 grasses. If you have an older horse or a horse that is prone to laminitis, this type of grass would be best kept in short supply and replace the bulk of it with a low sugar C4 grasses more suitable to the Queensland climate - Cultivation can be useful around the home if the ground is hard and compacted after the builders have finished, and before you plant lawn seed or lay down turf.
When to cultivate
Cultivation on steep and slopping paddocks can lead to soil erosion should weather patterns change suddenly. The best time to cultivate an area is during the spring or early summer when we are expected to get steady rainfall, and the seasons are more favourable for seed germination. Heavy downfalls of storm water can mean that top soil is eroded and seed lost.
Strip cultivation
In order to minimise the risk, strip cultivation in areas prone to erosion can be very useful. Strip cultivation can also be advantageous when there is a limited amount of land available for grazing.