Land Clearing
Cedar marching in from the fence? Blackberry and multiflora rose eating the back of the hay field? We take overgrown ground back to grass your cows can graze and your mower can cross.
Google ReviewsPasture clearing is how a field that went ten years without a bush hog becomes grazing and hay ground again. Superior Land Management is a Knoxville land clearing and excavation company based in north Knox County, and since 2021 owner Chandler Humphrey has been running the machines on farms from Corryton out to Blaine and Morristown. Clearing land for pasture is part of our land clearing services, and it gets its own approach: we mulch the cedar, sweetgum and briars, pull stumps where your hay equipment has to run, open the fence lines, and push the field edges back to where they used to be. You get an itemized quote that shows what each piece costs, so you can do the whole farm or just the worst field this year. Call or text Chandler at (865) 412-7121 to walk your ground.
Every year without mowing, the blackberry thickens, cedars put on another foot, and sumac and sweetgum spread by root into the grass. Saplings are a quick mulching job; ten years later they are trees with stumps your mower can't clear, and the price climbs every season you wait.
Clearing land for pasture means removing woody growth so grass can take the field back, and leaving the ground smooth enough for the equipment that will maintain it.
Most grown-up pasture is forestry mulching work. A mulching head on Chandler's Caterpillar excavator grinds cedar, sweetgum, sumac, black locust and blackberry where they stand, most trees up to about 6 to 8 inches, and leaves the chips on the ground. No burn piles, no haul-off, and roots stay put to hold the soil. On grazing fields we keep the mulch layer thin so grass can come through.
A mulched stump sits near grade, which is fine for cattle and a bush hog. Hay ground is different: a disc mower that catches a stump is a broken part. Where hay equipment has to run, the excavator pulls stumps with the root ball, and we fill and track the hole smooth. You tell us which fields are hay and which are grazing.
Fence rows are where brush starts. We mulch a strip along both sides of the fence where we can reach, cutting trees out of the wire without dragging the fence down. The excavator reaches over from one side, so we don't drive through your livestock. We also push wooded field edges back to the old line.
Field clearing often turns up old rock piles, washes and soft spots. We move rock piles to a field edge, smooth gullies, and open a path to ponds and creeks. Near streams we leave a vegetated buffer along the bank, because work in or along a stream can require a state permit. We don't fill sinkholes or drain wetlands.
Cedar takeover on thin limestone soils
Eastern red cedar thrives on the shallow, rocky ground of the Ridge and Valley. The good news: cedar cut below its lowest branch does not resprout, so one mulching pass usually handles it.
Root-sprouting brush that comes back
Sweetgum, sumac, black locust and autumn olive sprout from their roots after they are cut. Clearing land for agriculture with these in the field means planning a follow-up: mowing, grazing pressure, or a re-mulch with our brush mulching service the next season. Autumn olive and multiflora rose are both on the Tennessee Invasive Plant Council's invasive plant list. We don't spray; a licensed applicator can treat regrowth if you want herbicide.
Red clay that ruts when wet
Our clay subsoil turns slick after rain, and a heavy machine on a saturated hay field leaves ruts you feel in the tractor seat for years. Chandler schedules field work for firm ground.
Burn piles and burn season
Push-and-burn clearing in Tennessee needs a Division of Forestry burn permit from October 15 to May 15, and big piles leave scars where grass struggles. Forestry mulching skips the pile; pulled stumps get ground or stacked at a field edge you choose.
Chandler Humphrey has run Superior Land Management since 2021 with a crew of four, and he is in the excavator cab on your field. More than half his excavator hours are mulching, including roadside work for TDOT along the interstate. You can learn about Chandler and the crew before he ever sets foot on your land.
Your quote separates mulching, stump pulling, fence rows and rock piles, field by field, so you can see exactly what to trim if the budget only covers part of the farm.
On any field you mark for hay, stumps are pulled, holes filled and the ground tracked smooth, and Chandler walks it with you before we leave. On grazing-only ground, stumps are ground near grade. You decide which is which.
Chandler would rather spend an extra day getting a field smooth than come back later. If something isn't right, we return and fix it.
Chandler walks the property with you and marks which ground is for hay, which is for grazing, and which shade trees stay. He checks slope, rock, wet spots and creek setbacks. Estimates are free, and you get a written, itemized quote. For farms more than an hour's drive out, a $200 estimate fee may apply and is credited to the job if you hire us.
We agree on which gates we use, where the trailer unloads, and which fields must be empty of cattle or horses, then schedule for firm ground. You don't need to be home while we work.
The mulching head works through cedar, sweetgum, blackberry and multiflora rose, then the fence rows. Mulching first knocks the field down fast and shows what is underneath: rock, gullies, old wire and stumps.
On hay fields, the excavator pulls stumps, the holes are filled and tracked, and rock piles move to the edge you picked. Digging only where it matters keeps the bill down and the soil in place.
Chandler walks the finished fields with you and checks every spot you flagged in Step 1, and anything you aren't happy with gets handled before the machine leaves. You get an itemized invoice that matches the quote line by line, plus notes on where root sprouts will need a follow-up pass.
The cost to clear land for pasture depends far more on what is growing and what the field will be used for than on acreage alone. We price mulching by the machine day, $2,000 per day, and dirt work like stump pulling and rock moving at $1,500 per day, then estimate how many days your fields will take. Per-acre figures depend on the field. We are rarely the cheapest number. Our quote covers doing the field once so you aren't paying for it twice.
Estimates are free within our normal service area. Payment by cash, check or Venmo.
Sweetgum and sumac sprouts show up the season after clearing. A pass of brush mulching for fence rows and regrowth keeps the field from sliding back, usually in a fraction of the first job's time.
View Brush MulchingOnce the pasture is open, many owners want the woods behind it thinned for hunting or a view. Forestry mulching for wooded acreage uses the same machine, often on the same trip.
View Forestry MulchingNew pasture usually means moving water. We dig the line to the trough with our water line trenching service, after a TN811 locate request, which needs at least three working days' notice.
View TrenchingWe work out of north Knox County and cover farms within about 50 miles, including Knox, Grainger, Jefferson, Hamblen, Sevier and Loudon counties. Most of our ag land clearing runs northeast of Knoxville, where the valleys are still hay and cattle country. Corryton is a short run east across north Knox County, out toward House Mountain. For Blaine in Grainger County, we trailer up US-11W / Rutledge Pike. Jefferson City is east on US-11E / Andrew Johnson Highway through Strawberry Plains and New Market, and Morristown farmland is reached on US-11W or by I-40 East to I-81.
Need pasture clearing in Morristown or Jefferson City? Clearing land for farming on a Blaine or Corryton hillside? Call (865) 412-7121 and Chandler will tell you when he can get out to walk it.
Based in Knoxville, TNService-area business, about 50 miles around Knoxville. Pins open each area page.
View us on GoogleMost pasture work is priced by the machine day: $2,000 per day for mulching and $1,500 per day for dirt work like stump pulling. Briars and saplings may take a day; a cedar-grown hay field with stumps can take several. Chandler gives you itemized, line-by-line quotes after walking the property, so you can see the cost field by field.
Fence rows are priced by how many feet need clearing, how thick the growth is, and whether the machine can reach both sides. Old rusted wire can break when a tree grown through it comes out; we point those spots out before we start.
Light regrowth on a few acres can be a one-day job. Mature cedar or stumps on hay ground take longer, and wet weather can push the start. Your quote lists the expected machine days.
You don't need to be home. We need livestock moved out of the field we're working, gates agreed on, and a place to unload the trailer. The herd can stay in the next field.
On grazing ground, mulched stumps sit near grade and a bush hog can usually run over them. On hay fields, we pull stumps and smooth the holes so a disc mower and rake can run. You choose field by field.
Either way, we leave a smooth surface ready for fescue and clover. The UT Beef and Forage forage management resources cover soil testing, seed choices and timing, and your county UT Extension office can help plan seeding.
Cedar cut low doesn't resprout. Sweetgum, sumac, locust and autumn olive do, so plan on mowing, grazing or a re-mulch the next season. We return if anything's wrong with our work.
Still have a question about pasture clearing? Call (865) 412-7121.
Tell us which fields are for hay and which are for grazing, and Chandler will walk them with you and put every line of the work on paper. Call or text, or contact Superior Land Management online to set up your free estimate.
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