Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Let a neighbor use my field to grow corn?

What is the downside to letting someone grow corn on my poorly producing hay field if he would plow it after the harvest and reseed it with a hay mixture? (I posted this on Tractrobynet too)

Long story: I have an Amish neighbor who has been haying a 5-acre field of mine. The quality of the hay is not that good and I have been letting him keep all of it. The loose arrangement we have is that together we would improve the soil, reseed and split the hay next year when the quality and quantity improved. We have horses but are not looking to use any of the hay until we move to the property and build a new barn - probably next year. Recently he arranged to have about 20 truck loads of mushroom soil dumped on the field.

Yesterday he had a proposition for me:
- he would have the mushroom dirt spread
- he will kill the existing grasses/weeds with Roundup
- he would plant corn for this season
- after he harvests the corn he would plow the field adding more mushroom dirt to further improve the soil (he gets it free from local mushroom farms)
- after plowing he would smooth the field and reseed with a hay mixture
- we would split the hay after he starts to harvest it
- he does all of the cutting and baling (I have no equipment and no desire to buy it or do the haying)

I don't mind if he gets all of the corn from this years planting. I have no interest in charging him rent for use of the field. My goal is to get the field to produce better and more hay after we move there. He's been using the hay for his cows but would use the new hay for his horses.

Any thoughts?

My only concern would be potential erosion and the nutrients that could come in via the manure he probably uses to fertilize the field. However if you have a buffer to keep it out it may not be a problem -- unless you get a really heavy rain.

Thanks Cecil. This field doesn't drain into my pond so any erosion or manure runoff won't affect it. My neighbor offered to spread cow manure last year to fertilize the field. I turned that down as another neighbor said there could be problems with weed seeds. And the smell.

I see only positives, Rob. From what I've read, the Amish are a highly principled and self-sufficent group. Your exposure seems non-existant, your property would be well cared for and an Amish as a friend could be invaluable.

My only question is how much nitrogen does the mushroom compost have? Both corn and hay (grass hay) uses a lot of nitrogen. If you are reseeding with alfalfa the nitrogen wouldn't be a problem. If alfalfa is taken care of, it'll last 5 years, give or take. Then it's usually rotated with a year of corn, and then back to alfalfa.