Sparse hay fields - Leave or Top?

[Nickb1278]

We keep back about 20 acres each year to cut for hay around July/August but with the weather the way it is right now the grass just isn’t growing so I’m looking at our lawn and how we deal with that and wondering whether or not it’s worth giving the fields a quick going over with the topper. Has anyone ever tried this and of so what sort of results have you had?

I mean we all have to mow our lawns fairly continually even in these dry times so would the fields maybe benefit from the same treatment at least once just to prompt them to grow?

 

[Rod Dumbreck]

If some grass plants have gone to seed already because of drought stress, then you may as well knock them over to make way for later growth.

Do give careful consideration to the idea of raking them up and baling, just incase it doesn't respond to the lawn model of grass behaviour!

We had one of our best crops of hay in recent years when forced to use the hayfield for ewes and lambs because of a lack of early growth, but most of the credit goes to some timely rain.

 

[tr250]

You could graze it but I wouldn’t bother wasting time and diesel topping it

 

[pgk]

Hay fields currently home to in lamb and ewes with lambs as grass very short this year. No need to top in my situation. Hopefully like last year late spring rain will lead to some August hay.

 

[Estate fencing.]

Hay fields currently home to in lamb and ewes with lambs as grass very short this year. No need to top in my situation. Hopefully like last year late spring rain will lead to some August hay.

I never take the sheep off hay ground until may. Makes some nice July hay.

 

[Nickb1278]

If some grass plants have gone to seed already because of drought stress, then you may as well knock them over to make way for later growth.

Do give careful consideration to the idea of raking them up and baling, just incase it doesn't respond to the lawn model of grass behaviour!

We had one of our best crops of hay in recent years when forced to use the hayfield for ewes and lambs because of a lack of early growth, but most of the credit goes to some timely rain.

I don’t think anything has gone to seed yet but I like the idea of grazing it so I’ll have a word with our neighbours and see if they can run their sheep through

 

[Nickb1278]

You could graze it but I wouldn’t bother wasting time and diesel topping it

good point about the diesel. Time isn’t an issue but fuel always is

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I remember James Daniel saying topping leaves a ripped edge on the grass leaves so the grass does not grow as well after

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Just remember grass grows grass. Until it goes to seed , going to seed is like saying, time out I've had enough of the growing malarkey

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Topping Topping or mowing grass after grazing can be a legitimate way to manage grass quality if done correctly. Using a mower rather than a topper may also be beneficial as it leaves a cleaner cut for the plant to regrow. Topping/mowing should be done at 4cm to re-set the field for regrowth. Topping is mostly a cosmetic exercise to tidy up fields and seed heads in late season. While this will have a beneficial effect on pasture regrowth for late summer and autumn, the main point of topping is to prevent grass from heading in the first place. Once a grass plant has headed it has fulfilled its purpose for the year and will not grow any more. Therefore, consider topping a few weeks earlier than you normally would. (taken from https://projectblue.blob.core.windo...ing-grazing-strategies-for-better-returns.pdf)

 

[Dry Rot]

Living things by their nature aim to reproduce. Grass will do that either by producing seed or sending out stolons and rhizomes (creeping stems at ground level) according to the conditions, probably both. Dry weather encourages grass to produce seed heads, which takes energy. So in theory, it sounds like a good thing to cut the grass before seed heads are formed so it grows by producing stolons and rhizomes. So, now you know the theory, you can go and find out if which is true! (Remembered from college, over 50 years ago).

(FB beat me to it).

 

[Skintagain]

I never take the sheep off hay ground until may. Makes some nice July hay.

Might be June this year!!

 

[Estate fencing.]

Might be June this year!!

Might be never!

 

[pgk]

Agreed last year for a friend who let's us have some winter keep to take a 17 acre cut of silage on what might be the only grass we have to cut this year, might have been a bad decision.

 

[RS1600BDA]

I see some people Harrow when grass is at seed point. Not sure if it makes any difference. I don’t bother seems a waste of diesel to me. Yield seems to be constant harrowed or not.

happy to hear others views.