We bought a new home with 7 acres of horse pasture. In the past it used to grow grass/alfalfa hay. Previous owner let his horses graze it down to dirt so we fertilized it this spring. We’ve had to mow the pasture twice so far this year it’s growing like crazy. My two horses are easy keepers so they are only out on it for a few hours each day. My question is the cut grass laying in the field. It’s not enough to bale and it’s been so hot this summer, plus living in the high desert it dries up in a matter of days. But there are a few piles that end up getting moldy underneath. My horses don’t bother with the piles since there is enough green grass to eat. What is the best way to handle cut grass laying in the pasture?
You can ask around & see if anyone who makes hay will rake & bale it for you.
7ac is not much, but I have a neighbor who cuts & bales less than that in a L-shaped field that surrounds my pastures.
My farmette is 5ac total including house & lawns, barn, arena & pastures.
It’s a Win/Win deal for both of us - he keeps & sells what he gets off my acreage, I get fields mowed so the place looks civilized & I have a place to ride & drive my horses.
Last year they got near 120 small (40-50#) squares off my field.
If there is that much grass/alfalfa, it might be a better idea to electric fence off just a small grazing area for your horses (or a few smaller areas that you can rotate), and get a local farmer with haying equipment in to hay the rest of it. Either you and the farmer can split the hay crop (reducing your feed costs later in the year), or simply sell him the whole crop “standing” (all costs and all hay go to the farmer and you get paid no matter what happens).
If a field is being grazed adequately, there should not be a lot of piles of cut grass on the ground with the potential to grow mold. Yes, there is a risk that your horses may eventually eat it, and yes, it may make them sick if they do. Normally, the horses eat all the palatable grasses, and leave the weeds. When you mow, it is supposed to be the weeds that are mowed, to stop them from going to seed and spreading.
You could try mowing more often and take a little bit off each time. Alternatively, you could use a mulching mower or drag your pasture so there aren’t any thick piles. The thick piles may cause the grass underneath to die also.
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For comparison, I have mowed my 5 acres of pasture 8 - 10 times already this year. Now, I am not in the high desert, I’m in Piedmont Virginia, so I’m sure there are differences. When the grass is really growing, it gets moved every 5 - 6 days. But mowing often while leaving pasture grasses 4 - 6 " high is good pasture management - you cut the weeds and undesirable plants before they have a chance to seed, and encourage the good grasses to spread and multiply.
Big piles of mown grass laying on the pasture is not a good idea.
If I get patches of thatch on the pasture I run a drag or harrow to break it up/spread it and keep it from killing the grass underneath.
I would consider increasing your mowing schedule, add dragging to your maintenance, and consider rotational grazing of smaller areas as Nancy M suggested.
Good advice from McGurk. I manage my fields the same way. Mow when grass gets up about 7-9 inches, prevent it going to seed. Dragging, mowing often so you are shortening in smaller lengths, spreading any clumps thin, actually helps return some nutrients back to your soil in the cut pieces.
Haying the fields means you will consIstantly need to fertilize to keep up the quality of mowed grass made into hay, since you will be removing soil nutrients in the bales. And horses grazing, remove minerals, nutrients, as the grass passes thru their bodies. So fertilizing is still needed to have nice pastures that are nutritious grazing. Difference in grazing with just mowing or haying the fields off, could just be how MUCH fertilizer is needed yearly. I do fertilize yearly with just pasture grazing my small acreage. We have a number of horses out there eating it down, lIke them eating grass over feeding hay in summer.
I agree that mowing more frequently is a good way to prevent the problem. I used to mow my pasture in TN in two or three sections so it wasn’t an all day affair; do one section one week, then do another section the next week. It worked out so all parts got mowed every 2-4 weeks, depending on rainfall.
Luckily, I’ve never had them decide to go after the mowed grass that is laying. But if I was worried about it, or saw it happening, I would keep them off until it dried out. I have an extra horse right now and only 2-2.5 acres fenced for pasture, so with 3 horses I’ve only had to mow twice. Mainly to knock down the stuff they don’t like as much.
With only two horses on 7 acres, I would absolutely rotate pastures. When you take them off the section they are grazing, mow it then and let it rest. You can set a row of interior electric pretty cheaply and move them from section to section. Also, I would think about using a dry-lot in the spring until first cutting and have someone come bale it for you.
This ^^^^^
