When do you start mowing pasture

[MasseyFerg]

Older gentlemen I drink coffee with has raised cattle 40 yr. His idea to mow often enough so grass doesn't go to seed. He says if plant goes to seed it will quit growing. First time I have heard this . What do you all think. Thanks rj

I never mow a pasture that is what I have cow's for, I ain't cutting cow feed.
That is why the place is cross fenced to rotational graze.
Pasture's are fertilized, aerated, sprayed for weed's.
I will be dam if I am going to burn diesel to destroy feed.
My pastures are better than most in the area.

no way to get rid of the spring flush of winter grasses without mowing. most have destocked due to drought and even if they haven't, most don't have enough cows anyway to remove all of the wintergrass as fast as it grows. if you let it just sit, mature, turn brown and go to seed it aint worth a crap as cow feed. I don't care if you have it fenced off into 1 acre paddocks, you are only going to be able to graze off the winter grass on some of it. The rest will grow 3' tall and shade out your summer grass, which I assume is bermuda

i already mowed some pastures twice to keep the wintergrasses from going to seed and let the summer grasses get some light. as was said above with a 15' batwing, it dont take long or much fuel. i use less than 2 gals acre of diesel/acre. so my cost per acre is about $6.00. my other choice is to bale the crap wintergrass which is so mature that it ain't worth baling, but if u do this you are delaying ur first crop of summer hay by a month. if you bale the wintergrass earlier it will just come back and u will have to do it again. now if u can find some stupid city slicker that wants to buy your seeded out garbage wintergrass then you can bale it and sell it and at least recover your costs

 

[Banjo]

What the old timer said about when a plant goes to seed it stops growing is true....most things on this earth like fescue, tobacco, corn etc has one objective and that is to re produce and when it accomplishes that it comes to standstill or it puts all its growth into the seed head, That is why peoples top tobacco as soon as it starts to bloom because if you don't the plant will all but stop growing and go into seed production, but topping it encourages continued growth in the leaves.
Same way with grass

 

[Beefy]

i am going to mow some patches of thistles back tomorrow just b/c i havent had the time to spray them all and they are going to start budding soon if i dont. i only mow weeds.

 

[Caustic Burno]

What the old timer said about when a plant goes to seed it stops growing is true....most things on this earth like fescue, tobacco, corn etc has one objective and that is to re produce and when it accomplishes that it comes to standstill or it puts all its growth into the seed head, That is why peoples top tobacco as soon as it starts to bloom because if you don't the plant will all but stop growing and go into seed production, but topping it encourages continued growth in the leaves.
Same way with grass

Your right about the growth of grass.
Again that is what a cow is for not to sell the cow to buy diesel to cut the cow feed.
This is about management of feed, mowing the pasture is the same thing as going to the feedstore buying a sack of feed and throwing it away.

 

[tom4018]

Guess I do it wrong, but if you don't mow here you get over taken by saplings. Maybe it is because this place was let go so much in the past but even some area that only get mowed once a year you have small trees popping up. I try to stay on top of things spot spraying too.

If we had enough cows to keep up with the normal spring growth we would be way overstocked when the summer months come. So all mine gets mowed at least once a year, it seems like it has also reduced pinkeye issues.

 

[dun]

Guess I do it wrong, but if you don't mow here you get over taken by saplings. Maybe it is because this place was let go so much in the past but even some area that only get mowed once a year you have small trees popping up. I try to stay on top of things spot spraying too.

If we had enough cows to keep up with the normal spring growth we would be way overstaocked when the summer months come. So all mine gets mowed at least once a year, it seems like it has also reduced pinkeye issues.

That's the one reason we mow, FESCUE SEED. It also generates a bunch of fescue seed for planting if I need it, just sweep them off the mower deck.

 

[Limomike]

Guess I do it wrong, but if you don't mow here you get over taken by saplings. Maybe it is because this place was let go so much in the past but even some area that only get mowed once a year you have small trees popping up. I try to stay on top of things spot spraying too.

If we had enough cows to keep up with the normal spring growth we would be way overstocked when the summer months come. So all mine gets mowed at least once a year, it seems like it has also reduced pinkeye issues.

Tom, you dont do it wrong. there is no right or wrong way.. just YOUR way.
WE have the same problem with saplings poppin up all over, so we just mow em down . That mowin does help so the fescue seeds dont get in their eyes. Its all management of grasses &cattle... just the business we are all in.

 

[agmantoo]

tom4018

I have decent luck of controlling saplings by using a dull set of blades to burst the bark on saplings. Doing so seems to have the effect of girding the sprouts whereas with sharp blades it is similar to pruning and they tend to regrow.

 

[SRBeef]

I mow or drag my pastures almost every time my cattle rotate on to the next. Not paddock but pasture changes. The dragging speads the cow pies and, after a couple rains and 30 days rest, almost eliminates the avoidance zones mentioned above plus spreads the fertilizer value in the manure.

the choice between dragging or mowing depends on whats left in the pasture after the cows get done. Thistles are a problem here. i do not spray. If I see thistles left after grazing I mow to keep them from going to seed. Occasional clipping of pastures after grazing also evens up the stand of grass over time.

My mower is a flail type and has a full width roller on the rear so it also spreads the manure a bit but not so well as the drag.

I seldom mow an ungrazed pasture except in the spring if the grass gets ahead of the cows. This is better than leaving a waist - high mass of grass gone to seed and of limited nutritional value.

Grass feeds and grows back best here if let recover to about 10" tall then let the cows graze it down to about 4" tall. If grazed less than 4" it doesn't have enough leaf area to regrow quickly. If let grow to more than 10" tall it losses its nutrient value and goes to seed.

Here's a photo of where I had just taken up the wire after opening up a small patch of grass and before starting regular pasture rotation. This shows the 4" after/10" before grazing fairly well. Clipping and dragging helps in several ways.

Jim

 

[rjbovine]

SRBeef , Enjoy your pic with the herefords. Impressed with the pasture rotation . What type of drag do you use . I've bought a 12ft. rollup harrow to use hope that will do the job.

 

[SRBeef]

SRBeef , Enjoy your pic with the herefords. Impressed with the pasture rotation . What type of drag do you use . I've bought a 12ft. rollup harrow to use hope that will do the job.

I use a 3 point Wingfield harrow. http://www.wingfields.com

Jim

 

[ncboy34]

Do any of you mow the grass in your pastures to bale for hay to use in the winter? I've been torn about this since it seems with the right management you could have extra grass going into winter if you don't cut but at the same time I need all the hay I can get.

 

[Ruark]

What if your grass is sparse and you want it to spread out more? In that case, wouldn't you WANT it to go to seed?

 

[Banjo]

Do any of you mow the grass in your pastures to bale for hay to use in the winter? I've been torn about this since it seems with the right management you could have extra grass going into winter if you don't cut but at the same time I need all the hay I can get.

If you have thick pastures you can get some hay off of them but if they are thin or have been heavily grazed, what you cut won't amount to much. I've tried that before. I think it is best to bushhog the pasture if its going to seed so the nutrients and seed go back to the soil and mowing it should help it to thicken also, but don't cut too short.