What height do you cut grass pastures at?

[ShowroomShine]

For pure maintenance, what height do you go with to cut your pastures? I’m in VA and have mostly Fescue it seems, I’ll be cutting it for maintenance 2-3 times this year in preparation for our horses and cows to be on it next year. I have been cutting my pastures here in NC at 3.5” or so but don’t know if that’s the best choice for pasture health. I also know that I won’t be able to mow my VA pastures but 2-3 times this year so I have to keep that in mind as well.

 

[RjCorazza]

Regularly cut tall fescue is best cut at 3.75 - 4.25. Cutting much higher makes it harder to get a nicely finished lawn, but that's not what you're looking for.
For 2-3 cuts per season, I suspect 4.5" would be a good height. I don't have any experience with a schedule like that though.

 

[Wagtail]

I agree with RjC; 4.5" up to 5" is a good height, especially for horses.

 

[dieselscout80]

I like to cut around 7” or 8” tall to leave lots of forage for when actively grazing.

However, I might cut a bit shorter if not grazing, but not less than say 5”.

 

[Thomas]

We cut 4-5 inches from ground,better for animals also if there summer dry spell.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Might be worth reading, the university extension offices often have quite a bit to offer. Penn State and Kentucky are favorites of mine.

Grazing Residue Height Matters

It is important to remember to keep an eye on residue heights to eliminate over-grazing and the problems that occur as a result.

extension.psu.edu

 

[mo1]

For pure maintenance, what height do you go with to cut your pastures? I’m in VA and have mostly Fescue it seems, I’ll be cutting it for maintenance 2-3 times this year in preparation for our horses and cows to be on it next year. I have been cutting my pastures here in NC at 3.5” or so but don’t know if that’s the best choice for pasture health. I also know that I won’t be able to mow my VA pastures but 2-3 times this year so I have to keep that in mind as well.

I usually pasture clip at about 4" or so, the skids are about an inch off the ground.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I'm also cutting at 4" normally, unless one of my customers requests something specific.

For a very heavy weed field, I may go shorter the first cut, if I'm going to be back relatively soon to cut again (weed mitigation on a bad field).

 

[Hoss710]

I normally cut the fields to 4" to 4.5" .

 

[Jchonline]

In TX we are all coastal bermuda. We always cut height to head the weeds (I consider bahia grass a weed). We do produce hay off of the place though...so we would never cut the bermuda down unless we are baling it.