Not untrue. But then, simply mowing threw those all over the place.
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This time of year, the grass can stay quite wet until late in the day. If mown while wet, it’s going to get bent down by the wheels and then it gets missed by the mower. Tracked equipment is very hard on your turf. Don’t sweat it-- for this one time, the field will recover. If there are big bare areas, scatter some annual rye or winter oat seed – it’s not too late for it to germinate.
Lesson learned–now you know to ask the guy you’re hiring what kind of equipment he plans to run.
For this field, I would
- run over the area with a chain drag / harrow to break up and spread around the big clumps of cuttings.
- wait a week for the laid-down stuff to stand back up, and then mow again at a time when the field is bone dry.
- Take a soil test (your county extension office will have resources to help you on this) and see what it needs-- consider a fall application of lime and fertilizer. I’ve learned that a you can make a huge dent in weeds just by fixing your soil’s pH. Good grass can totally strangle out those weeds-- all you need to do is give it the pH and nutrients it needs
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I think it looks pretty much as expected for mowing weeds at full height.
I personally wouldn’t do anything with the clumps. If you owned a brush hog I would say to mow it again in a week or so, which will help spread the clumps down. But I wouldn’t hire someone to do that; it probably won’t be worth the money.
Do you plan to buy a brush hog of your own? The only way to really resolve this is to mow more frequently. What are your plans for this piece of your property?
I have an 8 acre field behind my house that I don’t want to keep mowing for no reason. Most is full grown weeds, but I keep paths mowed through it and keep them short. I keep my eye out for rosebushes, shrubs/trees and thistles, and will make a plan to hit them with the brush hog so they don’t take over. But overall my field feeds the bees. 
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I’d just leave it, let it dry out, then go over it again. The whole point of cutting with a mower like that is to really chew up the plant matter so it can fertilize the soil, and hopefully create better conditions for more manageable grasses to come up.
You can decide to “wild” it but I would suggest encouraging prairie grass (not sure where you are) and not letting crap like thistle, scrub bushes, or sumac overrun any area, unless you want to fight keeping it out of your pastures forever.
Had almost the identical comment should’ve read the whole thread first!
Only if there were seedheads when mowing.
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My local extension rep (great resource btw OP!) says that unless you spray the s$#t out of it, disc harrow and turn it over, spray it again, seed it, etc there is no way to completely obliterate existing seed banks which are full of all sorts. Best no chemical processes are to create the right soil conditions for grass, dance for rain, and cut when crap comes up!
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It is a bit rough looking but quite acceptable for a first cutting with an entire summers weed growth being cut down. You did well choosing the skidsteer front-mower, they are up for that tougher cutting.
As said I would wait a few (3?) weeks to mow again. That will shorten any new growth, take off weed seeds before they ripen, hopefully chop any piles of weed from the first mowing and smooth off the stubble. Nutrients in greenery left on the soil return to the land, along with the fiberous organic matter for the micro organisms, both helpful to the soil. The dirt is covered against torrential fall rains, snow melt, to prevent erosion. Having an unused field left a bit rough sure doesn’t hurt it any. Our eyes just want to see lawn-like smoothness after mowing, even if it was not grass we mowed! Ha ha
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The weeds are already spreading so it really is too late to worry about that anyway. It your goal is a pasture you might be able to get there with just mowing a few times next year. But if you’re just trying to make it look neat I agree we need to change our perception of what neat looks like. Native plants are pretty so long as you don’t end up with shrubs and multi floral roses which need much more effort to remove. Here’s a photo of my field today - I think it’s pretty. image|666x500
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My goal is pasture. I have under an acre fenced right now, I’ve started my fencing planning not sure if I will start this fall or wait until spring, but I want to utilize the land I have for the horses! I had thought about turning a few acres into hay, but not sure it’s worth the hassle, especially since it will end up pasture eventually anyway. I have a riding mower which I plan to keep it mowed down with now that it is mowed. I also plan to spread manure on it eventually, and throw a pasture seed mix down.
I used to get my unused pasture cut only once a year and it always looked a little rough. I’d leave the cut grass to decompose into the ground and it was always gone by spring. Now I cut it once a month to keep it looking nicer, and to get rid of the weeds. There is about an acre that I let grow long for the ground nesting birds so it doesn’t get cut until the fall - at which point I cut it twice to get it looking decent.
Please learn about the schedule of ground nesting birds in your area and either cut frequently enough that they won’t nest there, or wait until they have finished nesting to cut. I can tell you from personal experience that it is devastating to realize you have mowed over a nest full of chicks.
I don’t have a tractor but I recently bought an ATV and a tow-behind mower. It’s great.
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I just have to say that your property looks beautiful from that picture!
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Exactly what I would expect as the chore was completed late summer. I believe you have an expectation/reality mismatch. Next year, you will have better results with monthly (depending upon
growth rate) trims. For this year, wait until debris is dry and repeat the bushhogging. You will come closer to the “groomed” look.
We mow about 4 acres around buildings and bushhog roadsides weekly. Pastures are done as needed which works out to about once a month.
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You won’t get good hay from that pasture without plowing and seeding, so I wouldn’t bother. You can probably get decent pasture though, unless you’re hoping for something that looks like a posh TB broodmare farm in Kentucky…although that kind of pasture is likely to kill anything other than lactating TBs. My two fatties would founder overnight I’m sure.
The best way to get decent pasture is to mow continuously and overseed - unless you’re going to actually plow and seed. If you have easy keepers I wouldn’t bother plowing, but you will want to consider soil testing and possibly amending (e.g. lime) to avoid some of the annoying pasture weeds.
