G'day from Australia. With two unusually wet years in a row, the rushes on the lower end of my place completely took over- acres of it more than four feet tall and then laid over so the sheep couldn't even get through it. I called in the local rural fire brigade who burnt it one night as a training exercise- got some spectacular photos! Ploughed it with the mouldboard plough and sowed tall wheat grass and arrowleaf clover. Almost wiped out the rushes in one go. The clover gets to four feet high, huge amount of feed and doesn't bloat the cattle- great stuff. The wheat grass will thicken up and spread over a couple of years. Jay.
Hi Jay, when i watch two of my favourite tv shows ie 'Aussie Gold Hunters' and 'Outback Opal Hunters' i never imagined anyone having a problem with rushes in Australia, but i guess Australia is huge with a wide variety of terrains and climates. With our strict eco rules nowadays we would not get away with burning rushes anymore. We can't even burn branches if we trim hedges. I would love to see clover 4 foot tall. That would be real rocket fuel for the cattle.
@@OllieLove4255 G'day Ollie- I'll assume I got your name right :) It's the first year I've grown the arrowleaf clover. I'm six feet tall and the flowers were up to my shirt pocket, and that's on poor soil! It's finishing off and laid over now after heavy rain last week. I'll strip a heap of seed at the end of this week- gonna be well over a hundred degrees today so won't be doing a lot of anything. I've lived in gold country most of my life- one of my great grandfathers was one of the two Australians who found the gold at Ophir and started the gold rush. Our farm now is on the edge of a former gold mining town called Gulgong. They took eleven tons of gold from here- one of the best "leads" was only a couple of hundred yards south of our boundary. Still tons of gold left but so much underground water that they had to give up. Google "The Holtermann Nugget"- it was found a couple of miles from the farm I grew up on. I have a Minelab SC 2300 detector but mostly stick to panning. Check out The Jackson Brothers farming videos on TH-cam- they're a couple of hundred k's north of me. Good channel.
Hi great video, we also cut and dry rushes every year for bedding it makes quite good bedding especially if you put it through a straw chopper this helps with dung spreading as well it comes out in a big Matt and is a devil to get started if you use it whole 👍
I've only baled rushes a few times and as you say it makes quite good bedding. I don't have a bale chopper so i just use the front end loader and pitch fork to spread the bales. I understand exactly what you mean about a big Matt. Been there ,done that, so i changed my system. I now clean the sheds regularly and the dung is piled and usually allowed to sit for a year or two to break down and allow plenty of earthworms to accumulate, as the soil needs them as much as the dung.
You said it. Straw is no longer cheap. It's hard to believe years ago tillage men would burn the straw in the fields after the combine. Many would laugh and say it wasn't worth their while baling it. They have changed their tune now as straw is a cash crop in itself. Thankfully i've started to use the bales of rushes already (the ones i thought were the wettest ) and they are OK. Not as good as straw but the animals seem happy enough on them.
@@jamesbrennan9591 We have sprayed rushes in the past, even the field that appears in this video. We joined ACRES (Agri - Climate Rural Environment Scheme ) last year. Spraying rushes is now a NO NO, so in the last few months we have purchased a weed wiper. Hopefully she will make an appearance on here in the springtime once the weather picks up.
G'day from Australia. With two unusually wet years in a row, the rushes on the lower end of my place completely took over- acres of it more than four feet tall and then laid over so the sheep couldn't even get through it. I called in the local rural fire brigade who burnt it one night as a training exercise- got some spectacular photos! Ploughed it with the mouldboard plough and sowed tall wheat grass and arrowleaf clover. Almost wiped out the rushes in one go. The clover gets to four feet high, huge amount of feed and doesn't bloat the cattle- great stuff. The wheat grass will thicken up and spread over a couple of years. Jay.
Hi Jay, when i watch two of my favourite tv shows ie 'Aussie Gold Hunters' and 'Outback Opal Hunters' i never imagined anyone having a problem with rushes in Australia, but i guess Australia is huge with a wide variety of terrains and climates. With our strict eco rules nowadays we would not get away with burning rushes anymore. We can't even burn branches if we trim hedges. I would love to see clover 4 foot tall. That would be real rocket fuel for the cattle.
@@OllieLove4255 G'day Ollie- I'll assume I got your name right :) It's the first year I've grown the arrowleaf clover. I'm six feet tall and the flowers were up to my shirt pocket, and that's on poor soil! It's finishing off and laid over now after heavy rain last week. I'll strip a heap of seed at the end of this week- gonna be well over a hundred degrees today so won't be doing a lot of anything. I've lived in gold country most of my life- one of my great grandfathers was one of the two Australians who found the gold at Ophir and started the gold rush. Our farm now is on the edge of a former gold mining town called Gulgong. They took eleven tons of gold from here- one of the best "leads" was only a couple of hundred yards south of our boundary. Still tons of gold left but so much underground water that they had to give up. Google "The Holtermann Nugget"- it was found a couple of miles from the farm I grew up on. I have a Minelab SC 2300 detector but mostly stick to panning.
Check out The Jackson Brothers farming videos on TH-cam- they're a couple of hundred k's north of me. Good channel.
Hi great video, we also cut and dry rushes every year for bedding it makes quite good bedding especially if you put it through a straw chopper this helps with dung spreading as well it comes out in a big Matt and is a devil to get started if you use it whole 👍
I've only baled rushes a few times and as you say it makes quite good bedding. I don't have a bale chopper so i just use the front end loader and pitch fork to spread the bales. I understand exactly what you mean about a big Matt. Been there ,done that, so i changed my system. I now clean the sheds regularly and the dung is piled and usually allowed to sit for a year or two to break down and allow plenty of earthworms to accumulate, as the soil needs them as much as the dung.
Definitely a great idea at the minute with the prices of straw !
We heard of prices ranging from €120 - €150 for 8x4x4 bales during the spring and early summer. God knows what the price is at the minute.
better for bedding than straw lasts longer
Good video the bales of rushes would be cheaper than straw this year 👍
You said it. Straw is no longer cheap. It's hard to believe years ago tillage men would burn the straw in the fields after the combine. Many would laugh and say it wasn't worth their while baling it. They have changed their tune now as straw is a cash crop in itself. Thankfully i've started to use the bales of rushes already (the ones i thought were the wettest ) and they are OK. Not as good as straw but the animals seem happy enough on them.
Good video
Would you consider spraying
@@jamesbrennan9591 We have sprayed rushes in the past, even the field that appears in this video. We joined ACRES (Agri - Climate Rural Environment Scheme ) last year. Spraying rushes is now a NO NO, so in the last few months we have purchased a weed wiper. Hopefully she will make an appearance on here in the springtime once the weather picks up.