posted 5 hours ago
Kevin, I have not restored a strip mine myself, so take this as a starting point rather than expert advice — but for an arid site, I would not plan around alfalfa. Alfalfa usually wants more water and better soil than raw mine spoil offers, and it can struggle until organic matter and soil life recover.
A few things I would sort out before buying hay in bulk:
1. What the hay is for. If it is mainly mulch, you want clean, local grass hay spread thinly to shade the soil, hold moisture, and add organic matter — not a thick mat that smothers everything. If you are hoping the hay will seed the pasture, you need mature hay cut with seed heads on, and even then the species in it may not be the ones that suit your site, so I would not count on hay alone for seeding.
2. Match it to the site, not to a catalog. Ask the local extension office or NRCS office near the mine (not just near Minneapolis) which drought-tolerant grasses already grow nearby, and get a soil test first. Strip-mine spoil can be compacted, low in organic matter, and sometimes acidic or high in metals, and hay will not fix any of those problems by itself.
3. Source close to the site. Local ranchers, hay auctions, and farm groups near the mine are a better bet than hauling hay a long distance, both for cost and because the hay is more likely to come from grasses adapted to that climate. Ask specifically for weed-free hay, what species are in it, and when it was cut, so you know whether you are getting seed, mulch, or both — and avoid bringing in a weed problem on top of a restoration problem.
Have you found out where the mine actually is yet, and whether there are any reclamation rules or soil tests for it? Those answers would narrow down the grass choices a lot.
Muhammad — beginner chicken-keeping guides at TheCoopGuide (thecoopguide.blogspot.com)
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