mowing unused pasture or let it go?

[flybye]

we have about 15 acres of unused pasture we continue to mow at least 2x each year to keep it in resonable shape should we ever be able to sell our property in this economy. my question is this...

if we don't mow it, will it maintain its current health..% weeds/ % of grasses or will it degrade and become more and more weedy. i know if the animals were eating the good grasses and only the weeds remained to go to seed, the answer would be clear in that the grasses would never seed and the weeds would overrun the grasses.

with both grasses and weeds going to seed, wouldn't the current ratio remain the same?

asking due to the godaweful fuel costs and necessity to cut back where we can.

please give opinions and thanks in advance

 

[dave1949]

You don't say where you live, that is needed info for a useful answer.

You could cut your mowing fuel use in half by mowing once per year, just before the majority of the weed seeds are ripening.

Anything I stop mowing around here, reverts into woodlands.
Dave.

 

[nybirdman]

Around here it would resort to brush and turn into a real project to reclaim.
Mow it once in late Aug or Sept.I have stopped mowing twice a year myself,no need really.

 

[dmccarty]

I try to mow my trails twice a year but usually manage to only do it once a year. If it is not mowed, the woods will take over. I see plenty of old farm fields and pastures that have reverted back to woods.

I saw an interesting story years ago about Wake County, which contains Raleigh, the state capital. Around 1900 a majority of the county land use was farm, roads or city. Very little forest. About 1980's the land use had reversed so that the majority of land was forest followed by city, roads and farm. Now the cities and road are taking over, with what is left, in farm and forest.

If you do not mow it trees and weeds will take over. You do not want something horrible like Thistle taking over that field...

Later,
Dan

 

[flybye]

i live near St Louis, Mo. thanks 4 ur help. planning to mow this wk btween deluges. had 12 " rain here in April

 

[jlsmith]

If it was me I would still mow the land. Weeds will overtake the land and lower the resell value, not to mention once the weeds take over its a lot harder to get the grass back. JMO

 

[keegs]

Any chance you could get someone to mow for you ...assuming what's there has value?

 

[forgeblast]

How about renting it out for hay? or looking at enrolling it in a CREP program?

 

[czechsonofagun]

I would maintain it, much harder to get it back in shape if you don't.

 

[schmism]

You should be able to find someone to cut it for hay for 100% share.

A guy does mine on 50% share and i usually end up selling the other half back to him.

but if you just want it cut, 15 acre is a decent amount of hay for free for someone raiseing cows.

If you cant get anyone to cut it for hay...mow trails around the edge with one pass and a couple through the middle for rabbit hunts.... then in the winter burn it off each year. (or just mow it once in the fall)

 

[Western]

Do you have a neighbor that has a few cows? That may be an option for you, or goats, they will eat weeds and all.


Maybe graze it a few times through the summer and mow it when you see weeds/brush getting out of hand.

 

[Richard]

I cut the farm that I live on at least twice a year. Part of it (visible from my home) I like to cut more often so the wife has a pretty view when she drives home.

It's my Father in laws farm (although we own several acres in the middle of it) and I cut about 100 acres give/take. I don't really know the size other than what he has told me.

They (and therefore I) used to cut it with a 35 HP International with a 5' mower hanging off the back. Talk about a major pain in the hiney!

I finally stopped "helping" since it wasted one of my summers. They have finally brought a 85hp machine home and a 10' Rhino. Now it's a world easier to cut.

During the time I went on strike, realizing my free time meant more to me than wasting my summer cutting someone elses land (using their tractor but I usually bought the fuel) it went uncut for maybe 3 years.

There were saplings growing up EVERYWHERE and as has been said, it was a lot harder to cut it back.

I did it though, suffered through a couple flat tires thanks to little sapplings piercing them. Now that it's been beat down for a couple years it's much easier to maintain.

 

[LBrown59]

1*
Around here it would resort to brush and turn into a real project to reclaim.
Mow it once in late Aug or Sept.I have stopped mowing twice a year myself,no need really.

1*I loearned that the hard way

2*
I would maintain it, much harder to get it back in shape if you don't.

2*The hard for me way was like a year and a half with my bx23 and BH.

 

[two_bit_score]

Ok. I am piling on with everyone else and saying keep it maintained and or lease it out for hay or grazing.

Now, where is this place?

 

[merrickvilleguy]

find a guy with goats and make friends ... free manure, 0 gas

 

[ShenandoahJoe]

Yep. Someday, someone's going to set up a goat-rental business and make a fortune. I have this hillside that's too steep for a tractor...

 

[Ken45101]

As I understand it, the problem with goats is that: 1) you need excellent fences (more expensive than mowing!), and 2) the goats need predator protection from coyotes and dogs.

I agree with the "keep it mowed at least once a year" approach.

Ken

 

[MikeInEburg]

I second those who suggest getting someone to cut for hay. Much more productive than mowing.
Mike

 

[riptides]

I say let it go, if your interested in selling, mow/brush hog it then.

It's going to take a while for trees to come up.

It would be a lot of time invested in fuel and you, trying to "mow" that acreage.

 

[flybye]

thanks so much to everyone for their responses. we live on the east side of St Louis, MO and have had a tremendous amt of rainfall. in past years we have had a farmer from a near town round bale the pasture for himself and square bale the rest for us but it's been difficult to time the cuts. now that fuel is so much higher again, he's not willing to make the trip or time to hay us, so we're left with this dilemma of cut or not to cut.

most of the consensus is to cut at least once a year to control weeds and other undesirable stuff.

thanks for your input.