Friday November 22, 2013

Day 24..

Pka - fields assigned!! My teams winter field is Sheepwalk West and our spring field is Stathams Close.. To be continued!!

Our first lesson was soil characteristics with Julia. This started by determining the difference between soil type and soil texture (its still confusing!) Basically, soil texture is the components of sand, silt and clay and the structure is the arrangement of these particles! However the component of a soil is made up of the minerals (sand, silt & clay), organic matter (including soil organisms), water and air!

We then had Dom for grassland and discussed the differences between rough grazing, permanent pasture and rotational grazing. In summary;

Rough Grazing - is uncultivated land used for grazing livestock (unimproved land) Usually hills & moorland.

Permanent Pasture - the term for perennial or self-seeding annual plants maintained through several years of grazing (human improvement).

Rotational Grazing - Herds and flocks systematically moved on to fresh grass, or, sown every few years as part of an arable crop rotation as a 'grass break'.

Pasture - grassland used to graze animals / livestock and for cutting (silage).

Meadow - is a piece of grassland used mainly for hay / cutting.

Ley - the term for a piece of land that is seeded and left to grow with grass and clover good for 1 & 2 year silage cuts.

Sward - this is short grass held together by its roots.

Turf - this is the surface layer that is also held together by its roots (similar to the sward).