IT IS TOO LATE FOR SITE-PREP, BUT NOT TO ARRANGE PLANTING THIS SEASON
No matter how you do it, site-prep takes time. You must apply herbicides while leaves of the weed species can absorb and transfer them to other parts of the plants. All mechanical methods disturb soil that must then be settled by normal rainfall so that seedling roots will have direct contact with it. Finally, all site-prep is done by specialized contractors who book their schedules well in advance.
Unfortunately, planting without site-prep is a waste of capital. Seedling mortality is usually excessive, but even if it isn't, weed species occupy so much growing space that eventual yields are too small to produce a suitable return on the total asset. If your site-prep is not complete by the time you get this newsletter, you'd do better to wait another year.
Fortunately, however, no site-prep is needed for fields and most pastures actively cultivated this past summer. Quick action will probably enable you, even now, to get seedlings planted next January or February.
But the clock ticks on planting too. Big, second-generation seedlings are often sold out early, and planting is also done by specialized contractors.
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