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Gearing Up For Spring: Improve Your Pasture & Hayland Through Frost Seeding

With the spring-like weather these past few days, now’s the time to consider frost seeding as a cost-effective method to improve forage diversity and quality in your hayland and pastures.
 
Frost seeding is a low cost seeding strategy that relies on the action of the soil freezing and thawing to achieve the seed-to-soil contact needed for germination. Frost seeding may begin when fields are without snow cover but when the ground is still frozen.
 
Some keys to successful frost seeding include:
  • Removal of extra vegetation before seeding (ideally grazing or mowing in the fall),
  • Seeding early in the spring (after the snow is gone but while the ground is still frozen),
  • Selecting species that can germinate when cold–Ideal species for frost-seeding include red and white clover seeding at rates between 6 and 8 pounds per acre–and,
  • Allowing for new seedlings to establish (avoid over grazing and letting plants grow to 6 to 8 inches before harvesting).

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Grazing Tips From a Pro - Leeds County Pasture Walk Part 1

Video: Grazing Tips From a Pro - Leeds County Pasture Walk Part 1

Presented by Brad & Karen Davis, owners of Black Kreek Ranch, Anita O'Brien, Grazing Mentor, and Christine O'Reilly, Forage & Grazing Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Watch each video from this event to learn about grazing tips, water systems, setting up fencing, working with net fencing, electric fencing tips, grass growth and managing grazing, gates and laneways, and frost seeding. The Leeds County Pasture Walk in 2023 was delivered as part of the Farm Resilience Mentorship (FaRM) Program's Advanced Grazing Systems.