Planting a 12-acre field -- HELP!!!

Hey folks I have a bit of a problem. My back yard butts up to a farm field that is owned by my neighborhood, but that only I have access to, and that I control. Due to some changes we made in our neighborhood, the farm field will not be cropped this year (and very likely never cropped again).

I'm looking to plant something in the field that will be easy to take care of and look good, hold down the weeds, and naturalized over time.

I'm thinking of a mixture/combination of alfalfa, Dutch white clover, and grass seeds. The field is roughly 12 acres. It tends to flood in the spring.

My thought was to broadcast seed the field? Will the seed simply wash away? Do I need to use a grain drill to plant the seed to keep it from washing out? Do I just broadcast it and hope for the best, then overseed again in the fall? I was thinking of using a landscape rake to rake the corn stubble out of the field (I don't have a large disk or plow so I figure the rake would be my fastest option)

I don't have any summer photos of the field but I did take a photo of my Snow Trac in the field that gives a decent view of the field. Basically I want to get something other than weeds and corn stubble out there. I will be looking to seed from treeline to treeline . . . so pretty much everything you can see in the photo needs to be planted. For reference, the treeline in the back is about 1000'+ behind the Snow Trac.

Any advice on what to plant and how to plant it would be appreciated.

I think I would drag some sort of chain harrow over it, with lots of weight on it, maybe a nice I beam at the front to rip out the stubble. That should rough it up a bit.
Then just broadcast grass, clover, wildflowers maybe?

If anyone around there has a disk, field cultivator, or something or that order, I'd think it would be faster than the landscape rake; however, yours may be much faster than mine (the PT version is about and 18 inch drum with roughly 1" cubes welded in rows all the way around it).

I don't know about the fine seeds you're looking at, but on small grains we'd run a disk before (sometimes a drag too depending on soil) and a light pass with a drag after seeding. Whoever sells you the seed should have an idea of the best soil prep in your area.

Even better idea! Plant all prairie grass, and buy your daughter a horse!

Are you sure you want clover there? You do know that your yard will be seeded with clover every year if you do so. I had a fit with a neighbor who mixed clover in a field that borders my property. Clover is a vine type weed. Not only does it creep across into yards, but its seeds are tiny and travel better than dandelions on the wind. You will have to spray 3 or 4 times a year to keep the stinking weed out of your yard. According to the Indiana/Purdue ag extension office, clover has a wax like covering that makes it harder to kill with chemicals. Once it starts blowing into your yard you will need to spray two to three consecutive weeks for it those 3 or 4 times a year. My neighbor finally agreed to quit putting out any clover about eight years ago. I'm just now beginning to win the war against clover. I consider it the worst and most difficult to eradicate weed there is.

Is your neighbor using Dutch White Clover (the tiny little white clover the grows only a couple inches high) or is he using one of the large red clovers that grow a couple feet high and attract deer?

B_Skurka said:

Is your neighbor using Dutch White Clover (the tiny little white clover the grows only a couple inches high) or is he using one of the large red clovers that grow a couple feet high and attract deer?

Click to expand...

Both. It's the short white flowered type (the type kids look in for 4 leaf clovers) that is the hardest go eradicate and that spreads the most. The larger leaf and taller type is easier to kill.