Thinking Ahead

Next year we are moving the oats down to the fertile valley floor on the northeast of the Property.  The new oat paddock is covered with onion weed/guildford grass and we have been advised to plough it now to bring up the bulbs which will help us eradicate it over the next few years.   We will probably have to spray too, either before or after planting the oats.  Our neighbour is coming round with his heavy disc harrows, so we slashed the area and picked up the big rocks to reduce the likelihood of any surprises hidden in the long grass. The area is slightly smaller than the current oat paddock, but we should get better growth in the oats, especially if we can tiller them by grazing it with the sheep we are getting later this year, after we have put in some more fences. The soil is rich and loamy ranging from ochre to black and seems to have a lot of humus and plant matter in it.  I am quite excited to test it when it has been turned over and we can get a better view of it.  It is very different to the grey sand we have in the current oat paddock.