River bottoms and field edges
Land along the Yazoo, Tallahatchie and Yalobusha holds the typical Delta bottomland mix: oaks, green ash, sweetgum, with willow and cottonwood on low ground near the water. Once cut over, these woods come back fast and thick. A lot of what we see around Greenwood is ground that was cleared years ago and now needs opening up again for pasture, a homesite or hunting.
Closer to the fields, the work is tree lines, ditch banks and turn rows that have crept out into the crop. The mulcher handles that well. It grinds brush and saplings in place and leaves a mat instead of a brush pile. For bigger timber, pushing and windrowing with the track loader is often the better call. We will explain the tradeoff before you decide.
Working Leflore County ground
Most of the county is flat Delta soil, and the heavier clays, called buckshot or gumbo, drain slowly. The USDA soil description for Sharkey clay lists very slow permeability. That means equipment can rut the ground badly after a wet spell. Natural levees near the rivers are often sandier and drier than the clay flats behind them, so the same farm can have ground that is ready and ground that is not.
Low areas near the rivers can also be in mapped flood zones. If the cleared land is going to hold a house or building, check the FEMA flood map and talk to the City of Greenwood or Leflore County before you build. If it is going to be a food plot or pasture, tell us so we leave the surface ready to work.
Burning and digging rules
MDEQ does not allow burning of land-clearing debris within 500 yards of an occupied dwelling unless a forced-draft air system, like an air curtain burner, is used, and never within 50 yards. Fires are also off during a Mississippi Forestry Commission High Fire Danger Alert, a county burn ban, or where a local ordinance forbids burning. Inside Greenwood, check with the city before planning a fire.
Forestry Commission burn permits are for forestry and agricultural burns. The MFC says land-clearing burns fall under local ordinances, so ask Leflore County what applies outside town. Any job that digs stumps or moves dirt needs a Mississippi 811 locate request at least two working days before digging. The ticket is good for 14 calendar days.
