Harrowing pastures

[JB]

LOL, thanks! I’d love to read that study to see what the parameters were - temperature, moisture/rain, length of time.

If you drag when it’s above 85* for long enough, you’re exposing eggs to the heat, and heat kills.

If you drag when it’s between 45-85*, especially in the middle range, eggs hatch into infective larva BUT, those guys don’t live long without a host - a few weeks or so at best.

If you drag when it’s below 45*, and it stays there, eggs don’t hatch, but are spread around, waiting for temps to rise again to hatch into infective larva.

[ASB_Stars]

I drag my paddocks about twice a month, mostly year round. I like to spread the manure out so that the rain can melt it down easier. I generally like to mow, then drag, because it’s harder to get a nice even cut on the paddocks when the grass has been laid down by the drag. The horses have fecals, and I’m not really worried about the parasites. I just like the paddocks to be maintained.

[saddleup]

I thought there was something REALLY SCARY going on out in her pastures, so I’m right there with you!

[Warmblood1]

I tried finding it but couldn’t. Sorry. I do know that the study was done through the period of a summer so I suspect the temperatures would have been varied starting from beginning of season to end. It was disheartening to read because I drag for parasitic control. I still do it because I believe if you disturb the environment that it is possible to decrease parasitic population.

[S1969]

@Warmblood1

Hahaha. Sorry. The pastures drug with harrows showed no decrease in parasites.

Or for us northerners -

The pastures dragged with harrows showed no decrease in parasites.

Drug = medication (legal or illegal) and never anything else.

[house]

I guess it really depends on what you are trying to do, where I live we get very little rain, so as long as I have “hay” I never drag it, then the rest of the year I drag it hopefully twice a month to keep the manure down. One thing I have not heard too many people comment on, is what kind of harrow you use and how you use it is just as important. If I have any plants the horses might eat I use a chain harrow with the teeth up just to knock down manure, if I dont have anything worth saving I use a spring tooth harrow with a chain harrow teeth down behind it.