Need pasture advice

[Cat_Tap]

I have three fields of pasture amounting to 20 acres. I am now down to four horses so have way too much grass. My neighbor has been taking round bales off one of the fields before I rotate the horses to this field. Unfortunately due to equipment problems and difficultly with weather he cannot cut it this year.

Here is my question: should I cut it first with my little Kubota and bush-hog or should I put the horses out as it is. It is quite tall which I know the horses don’t like but it would be quite a long job for me to cut it. Also there would be so much lying down.

Experienced advice will be very much appreciated.

[Scribbler]

I understand it is correct pasture management to mow it but then you also have to get rid of the mown grass, either by baling or raking up. Lots and lot of people put horses on unmown fields and they do just fine.

[S1969]

I would cut it. They aren’t going to eat the long grass and not sure what else is out there.

[goodhors]

I would cut it before turning the horses out. This will remove tall stems that can get seeds in their eyes. We are hearing about quite a number of seeds in eyes this year. Couldn’t mow like normal with such wet land. Tall stems left long, do not add much in reseeding value to a field. This according to MSU grass research, which is contrary to old folk wisdom. Better to buy and spread good seed if you want to improve pasture growth.

Next, cutting returns the nutrients in cut grass back to the land, acting as fertilizer. If you cut more than once a season, the nutrient value increases to the soil. Not sure if you have been fertilizing, but farmer cutting hay off, removes nutrients. Then hay or pasture has less production, less food value in the grazing without replacement nutrients. Tamara in Tenn is a production hay grower. On COTH she has shared many pieces of growing information. One that really caught my attention was their practice of soil testing and fertilizing after EVERY hay cutting on a field! For her, it keeps the field productive, hay reliably has good food vales for her many horse customers. If you have fertilized regularly, then just cutting grass short a few times over summer, leaving it lay, can add almost as much value back to the land as an application of fertilizer! And no cost but your time mowing.

Third is the cut stems break down with time, future mowing, adding organic material to your soil. Then you get the soil animals, microbial and worms, working to break down the stems more, enriching your soil. So that is 3 good reasons for mowing!

I hear you on mowing with smaller equipment my mowers are only 5ft wide. Takes a LONG TIME to mow the two 11acre parcels! But that is what makes good pastures. Glad for my tractor canopy, seems 10 degrees cooler “in the shade!” But that constant mowing is what is required here, to keep my pastures productive enough to support 9 grazing horses on 11 acres all season. Not fat horses, they get brought in during day hours, used, so they are in good condition. Horses usually only get hay in summer if we haul them someplace to play or there is drought. The other parcel we bought recently, trying to get it in good shape to do hay from. Soil test was miserable, lacking in all nutrient areas. Fertilizer man said it was greatly lacking, should fertilize twice this year to get it up to needed amounts of minerals and nutrients so soil can produce. So land has dried enough that I FINALLY got half on yesterday, will apply the other half at summer end. Plants will use it better in 2 smaller doses.

Funny thing is the tall grass LOOKED nice, but not made of nutritional value. Horse who ate that hay would be lacking needed food minerals, maybe lose weight.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

If I had the equipment, I wold cut it. Pull your deck up to its highest setting and mow. Then wait a week, and mow again with the deck lower to cut up the large pieces into a smaller mulch.

We have an old 1952 Harry Ferguson TO-30 tractor with a 5’ bushhog, which at times has been broken down for an entire season (or a whole year), for various reasons. We used to use our garden tractor (Cub Cadet 54") to mow during these times, but no more. It was just too rough on the garden tractor. So we just leave the grass now if we can’t cut it. As a matter of fact, our TO-30 broke down 10 days ago (steering arm snapped off) while my husband was mowing the front pasture. Only got 1/4th of the pasture mowed before Harry broke. The horse in there is just fine. Still waiting on my tractor guy to come out.

[mmeqcenter]

I’d put out a Craigslist/Facebook ad seeing if someone else wants to come bale it.

[SusanO]

I would get it mowed too. The person who mows my big pasture has a broken tractor. It needed mowing in May and it is still sitting unmowed. My mare gets skin funk on her legs in the tall wet grass and now two places have graduated to sores on her legs which I am having to bandage. Which she rips off. I spray bandage and she goes out into tall wet grass, it washes off the bitter spray and she rips off bandage again. As soon as I get truck drama resolved I guess I will have to buy a bushhog. I have mowed parts of it with my garden tractor but I expect that will kill my garden tractor pretty soon if I keep that up.

So get that grass mowed before putting horses out in it. Also - ticks!!! That would be enough for me!

[candyappy]

Just mow it as high as you can and put them out on it. I don’t bale my pasture and this is what we always do once the grass goes to seed. It gets rid of the brown tops and cuts a little of the length, but they graze it just fine.

Or put up an ad for someone to cut and bale it free, if they need hay.

[Cat_Tap]

@mmeqcenter

I’d put out a Craigslist/Facebook ad seeing if someone else wants to come bale it.

Unfortunately most of the farmers around here have died and places have been bought for horses or hobby farmers. Most of the land is being worked by large conglomerates who wouldn’t be interested in my little field. The only farmer still left is also having equipment problems and said he couldn’t cut it this year. He had been taking round bales off this field in the past. He took the round bales away in exchange for cutting the field as I don’t feed round bales.

[Fred]

I’m in a similar situation, and hate like anything to waste the hay on these fields, but there is no one able to bale it, it seems.
So what I have done, and while not ideal, it is the best I can do in the circumstances, is put the horses out on the tall grass field, let them eat it as best they can (and they have been working on it!) and then, soon, get it bushhogged. It is a waste of hay, but what can we do?

[Cat_Tap]

I don’t use the hay that the farmer takes off my fields, it was just such a help to have him cut it down before I put the horses on it… He takes off round bales, saves me cutting it. Not going to happen this year. I was going to cut it myself but the tractor won’t start. They are picking up the tractor in the morning. In the meantime one of the times my tractor started I got the winter sacrifice field cut and it looks OK, so they will go out there until I can get the back field cut. The field they are in now is pretty well done. Unfortunately it is my favorite field as it has lots of shade and I can watch them from my kitchen window.

My problem is that I always worry so much when the routine is off kilter.

[Cat_Tap]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It is tough when you are by yourself and have no-one to whine to.

[allons-y]

Cat Tap sorry for your troubles, Tractors can be so frustrating. I once got behind on my mowing due to weather issues. When I finally got out there I had to mow twice. First cut was raising the 6 foot Dual Woods finish mower completely off the ground, probably 20 inches. I call it mowing with my tail in the air.

[goodhors]

@allons-y

Cat Tap sorry for your troubles, Tractors can be so frustrating. I once got behind on my mowing due to weather issues. When I finally got out there I had to mow twice. First cut was raising the 6 foot Dual Woods finish mower completely off the ground, probably 20 inches. I call it mowing with my tail in the air.

You have to do what you have to in getting the mowing job done. Mower raised on round 1 reduces grass height, so you can do round 2 with mower on the ground. My small wet spot is shortened with the raised mower, then going over it again with mower closer to the ground and round 3 mower is actually on the ground. That grass is 6ft tall before standing water dries up, not grazed behind fence protecting the willow trees. Just glad it is a small area!

[Cat_Tap]

It has been quite a summer. I did manage 3 times around the perimeter before the tractor gave up. Now waiting for its return. In the meantime several thunderstorms with downpours made the creek give up. Now two thirds of my three fields are under water. Fortunately I did manage to cut the winter field a few weeks ago and two thirds of it is on high ground. T think the back field is done for this season. It will be some time before the water recedes and I will be able to get on it to finish cutting. Thanks to goodhors;s advice I will continue to cut it and keep the horses off it this year.

The third field had been eaten down except for the rough area and it usually dries up quickly so the horses can go back to it in a few weeks.

Goodhors I have a question. My neighbor farmer told me years ago not to worry about the flooding from the creek. He states that along with the water comes all the fertilizer and good top soil from the surrounding fields. Is that correct? I have never fertilized it. My horses only get a vitamin/miner mix along with flax and salt. They are all in good flesh with shiny coats and dapples.

The sky is turning black in the distance. Another thunderstorm coming?

[Cat_Tap]

The pictures didn’t turn out as well as I thought. The field beyond the horses is the worst. I was in flip flops and didn’t want to venture out there.

[eightpondfarm]

When we moved into our farm we had numerous neighbors wanting to ‘help’ us by: cropping our fields, haying our fields, grazing our fields. Heck! they even offered to hunt our deer problem for us LOL. We respectfully declined their generous offers …and for years I brushhogged the fields and dropped back the grasses to the ground… Eventually we began haying for our own needs. We average 150 roundbales per year and have grown our animal farm to stay within that range of hay use. We keep an organic farm and the nutrients that the brushhogged decaying matter gave back to the soil, in time, built those poor sad fields into lushgrowth producing acres. Our front yard is 10 acres fenced and in it i have and elderly Highland cow and bull and just brought in two rescue equines. (Other 8 equines rotate through pastures) . It got too high with only the two Highlands, so now i think i’ll allow the rest of the horses to come in and graze down everything for us. What they don’t eat, the sheep will when they follow them…and in about 3 to four weeks, we’ll have a well mown, well-fertilized lawn…perfectly detailed around the rock outcroppings, trees and drywalls. I don’t worry much about tall grasses and cattle or horse eyes. It depends on what the grasses are … cheat foxtails are not good, but orchardgrass and timothy don’t present a problem. Fescue pops out it’s seeds and they can get into the eye, but they get blinked out. And taller forage keeps flies out of eyes.

[Guilherme]

eightpondfarm writes, “We keep an organic farm and the nutrients that the brushhogged decaying matter gave back to the soil, in time, built those poor sad fields into lushgrowth producing acres.”

Exactly how does this happen? How does a field with poor soil, producing poor quality forage, get better if you bushhog the poor forage so that it decays back into the same poor soil that grew it? Does this not mean an endless round of poor crops rotting back into the same poor soil?

If you tell me you add manure to the process I’ll see that you are improving the soil. But if you don’t add anything to poor soil it does not become good soil by the simple passage of time. And endless rounds of cutting.

Whenever you remove a crop, any crop, from the soil you are reducing the fertility of same. There are ways to return that fertility, some more benign than others, but “benign neglect” is not one of those methods.

G.

[eightpondfarm]

@Guilherme

eightpondfarm writes, “We keep an organic farm and the nutrients that the brushhogged decaying matter gave back to the soil, in time, built those poor sad fields into lushgrowth producing acres.”

Exactly how does this happen? How does a field with poor soil, producing poor quality forage, get better if you bushhog the poor forage so that it decays back into the same poor soil that grew it? Does this not mean an endless round of poor crops rotting back into the same poor soil?

If you tell me you add manure to the process I’ll see that you are improving the soil. But if you don’t add anything to poor soil it does not become good soil by the simple passage of time. And endless rounds of cutting.

Whenever you remove a crop, any crop, from the soil you are reducing the fertility of same. There are ways to return that fertility, some more benign than others, but “benign neglect” is not one of those methods.

G.

well of course you’re right. After brushhogging two or three times that first growing season…and overwintering those fields, i overseeded birdsfoot trefoil and korean lespediza. Our soil tests indicated marked improvement in 16 months after purchase…and has risen to it’s current level within only 3 years. Simply adding legumes and dropping down whatever grew did the trick for us. THough we have a lot of oaks/hickories and walnut trees, we are also a limestone area, so we do not naturally tend toward acidic soil where we are. Around year three or four we’d fenced and crossfenced almost all of our 325 acres and acquired livestock and began grazing…and now we rotationally graze all but one of the hayfields. The sheep particularly, (120 Icelandics) with their three llama guardians, do quite a nice job of fortifying the soil. Cattle (Highlands) and horses (a motley band several breeds) are alright, but the sheep really do wonders…except they are hard on the forbes forsure! I collect seeds from desirable (usually blooming) ‘weeds’ deliberately plant them back! And currently, to this very day, i overseed legumes every year into both our hayfields and our grazing pastures.

Actually, this year, for the very first time, i overseeded timothy and brome into our fields just for grins. We have little or no cool season grasses and i thought it might be novel for the animals to have some in their hay this winter…IF WE CAN EVER GET IT CUT! (it’s been a really really rainy year!)

[merrygoround]

@mmeqcenter

I’d put out a Craigslist/Facebook ad seeing if someone else wants to come bale it.

I’d just plain cut it. You do yourself no favors by haying it.