These 2 acres are northeast facing. I own the property south and west which is all south facing. There's 168 acres here in total. The soil is very deep before you hit rock. 14-20 inches of top soil then more than a hundred feet of clay. This property hasn't been managed since the early 80s at the most recent. The limited access prohibits silvopasture... and on this small a scale I probably won't. Long term plans are to divide the property south for silvopasture. I will run a alley cropping system between the trees until they are big enough to survive the herefords.
This 2 acres is a proof of concept more than anything.
The house site is not anywhere near these 2 acres, and terrain prohibits gravity feeding hard surface runoff to this system. I've got 3 contour lines marked. I may add 2 more, and a 1/8th acre pond... well see.
I've put in 2 other ponds in the past 3 years and they are doing just fine. I use a 14,000 pound John deer 4020 with a bucket and blade for most of the digging and maintenance. I could use its 6 ft bucket... but I get the impression the excavator is faster and more accurate.
Kinda leaning towards a Kubota 121-3 and hoped somebody would have some experience to share.
I'll try to load some pics of the property later.
