# Overgrown Pasture



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Always mow it. Always, always. Others are going to give you reasons, I just know mowing discourages weeds and encourages grass


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## TrainedByMares (Jun 5, 2021)

If you start mowing it regularly now, by the time you are ready to use it , it will be a nice pasture again. You may have to make several passes if its really grown up but if you keep after it, you wont regret doing so.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Mowing keeps down and reduces the weeds from taking over and choking out your grasses.
If its high, mow in increments...
Our brush-hog will go as high as my tractor can lift the machine...but I usually start at 10 inches on really tall and overgrown growth.
Then we lower to 6 - 8 inches, more to the higher end and then we cut again in a few days no lower than 5 inches ever or you can actually burn the grass out depending upon where you live.
You are actually creating a mulching nutrition rich fertilizer placed on and moving around the clumps of grass so it not rot and kill the plants underneath.
Plan on cutting once a month with no animals on it minimum...

At this time of the year please, please be on alert for baby animals moms have left protected in high/tall grasses while they go to eat....
The babies do not know to run and you need to vigilant you not hit them in your mowing..
Again, depending where you live wear long pants and boots as snakes do live in the tall grasses and although they move off...you stepping down and away from your machine puts you in their territory too...

Don't forget a dust mask and eye protection as well as ear if you need it...if you have a A/C cab, you might be able to forego the worn accessories since the cab gives you good protection from blowing debris and noise abatement...the boots though are always a must!!
🐴...


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

If you don't have all that equipment and have the time or want the exercise, weedeater works. Like mentioned, start off high and then go closer to the ground. It's doable, as I have done on a 7 acre pasture in one long day. You'll need a heavy duty, gas powered one, although I did just buy a rechargeable battery pack one with an extra battery, works just as well.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

What they all said - mow mow and mow some more. You will be pleasantly surprised at how that keeps the weeds down.

In the Fall you can also spray with 2-4-d.


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## Danneq (Sep 18, 2020)

That's what I thought haha. @horselovinguy, thank you for the reminder about baby animals, it seems obvious now that you've pointed it out but I wouldn't have thought of it.

I will look into getting a heavy duty weed wacker. We are in the process of purchasing a sit-down or no-turn mower. Is there anything in particular we should look out for (don't buy an x, it's really helpful to have a y, etc.)?

Thank you all!


edited to fix typos


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

All I can tell you about sit-down style is what we have for our lawn is a now older Craftsman 54", 26hp Kohler engine...the "Garden Tractor" was the largest mower made at the time before you went to the farm status of machines....
Our mower has the ability to go from 2" in height to 7" in height.... most lawn mowers, sit-down ones we have looked at since seem to not go above a 5" cutting deck height...
5" high is barely high enough grass for most pastures to flourish with...
_Watch the height of the cutting deck..._
Make sure you buy a model that has name brand components so you can get replacement parts easily.
Our tractor my husband has been rebuilding nearly everything himself as it breaks cause parts are obsolete, can't find them no matter the cost so beware!! Thankfully my hubby is very, very handy and resourceful and loves to fabricate or we would of been in deep trouble a long time ago!!

If you are planning on using a 0-turn for mowing your pasture...purchase commercial grade cause it is hard work and commercial grade is often hardier made but it costs more...a toss-up but this is a large $$$$ enough investment you don't want to wear it out for many, many years.
Do the research and shop around...
Consumer Reports might be a source to utilize for this for insight.
🐴... _jmo..._


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

If you buy a Zero turn mower that’s all you can do with it —- mow.

Seven acres is a lot. The biggest of lawn tractors, with the biggest of mower decks would be capable of multi-tasking for the money you will need to shell out.

If you have the money, also consider a sub-compact big enough to attach a front end loader to.

As far as brands, there are many opinions on this forum, lol. More important is how close a dealership is to you that has a great service departmen. Even if DH is aces at repairs, occasionally things happen that husbands don’t have the tools to fix

That said, our 2004 Husqvarna lawn tractor with the 52” mower deck worked until 2019 and I mean it worked. We replaced it with a John Deere lawn tractor because that is what my sub-compact tractor is


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Another vote for mowing. See if you can get a farmer to come bush hog it if it's tall and thick - a mower might not be enough. The more you mow a field, the better it will come back into nice grazing grass. You don't want that grass to self-seed if it's just weeds. Mow it down, and if you really want to have it turn into a nice pasture for next summer, pick up a cheap home soil test. Check your Ph levels and your nitrogen levels. We got a soil test for 15$ and found out that (not surprisingly), we needed to add a little lime and a lot of nitrogen. The grass is coming up very nicely now for us (though we could sure use more rain), and it was relatively cheap. Don't hesitate to mow again and again. Mowing keeps the weeds down and gives the good grasses a chance to compete, but lime and nitrogen really give them a competitive edge. We were going to reseed, but now, we don't need to.


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

All the above is very good advise. Especially about a compact tractor with brush hog and a loader. Two of my 3 tractors have loaders and all have cabs. Worst case I could do without the cabs before doing without the loaders. There is so much you can and will do with them it is unbelievable. They will save you so much work that you would have to do by hand.


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## Danneq (Sep 18, 2020)

The concensus is that we can't afford to buy an tractor right now, but I'm looking into renting one (along with perhaps a person to drive it, since I never have).

Any thoughts on goats? I think there are some farms nearish to is that will rent out goats.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

If you have decent credit you _can_ afford to purchase a mid-size tractor with bucket loader.
Many companies offer low or no interest financing for up to 5 years.
For half of what a 1-day rental will cost you you can own it and have it insured as is required when a loan on equipment exists.
You don't need huge but don't settle for tiny either...
A tractor in the high 20 to mid 30 hp range will allow you to run implements that will make your life easier maintaining and caring for your property.
A 5' bush-hog and a auger would be my go to implements along with the bucket-loader.....
You can cut all your grass, even your lawn. 
It's cut not a golf course appearance but presentable, a auger just allowed you to set and make your new fence-line not cripple you digging hundreds of post holes by hand.
Your bucket loader is about 1/2 yard size and can do so much manual labor easily for you to save your back...
For roughly $250 - $300 a month...that is not a lot for what you will have sitting in the covered garage or shelter.
Now you _don't_ need to spend another $4,000+ for a lawn mower that only mows...
Now if you use that money you were going to need to buy a lawn mower to lower the $ you finance...substantially lower monthly payment it is.
For a few more $ a month you just invested in your land and caring for it and not inheriting anyone else's headaches from used and or abused...
Before you take a uninformed comment make some inquiries to local tractor dealers....you have nothing to lose and in reality much to gain! 
You might just come across a buy-back at a dealer too that is yet under warranty and a savings too...
🐴...


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

This is what my sub-compact looks like - right down to the mower deck, the FEL, and the lid, except mine is a 2006.



https://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/list/category/1111/tractors-less-than-40-hp/manufacturer/john-deere/model/4110



This particular tractor is on the pricey side. I paid less for mine, in 2007, from the dealership who originally sold it to someone else. It has paid for itself more times than I can count, in many many different ways. It is one of three tractors because we have 25 fairly rough acres and need small, medium, & large tractors.

My neighbor has goats. Believe me there are broadleaf weeds even the goats flat out refuse to eat. They stand on their hind legs and pull the leaves off the trees instead.

This is a perfect sized tractor for seven acres and will easily get the jobs done. 

They have hydrostatic drive which means no clutch, just push the gas pedal or the reverse pedal, and learn the few dos and don‘ts when the tractor is in 4-wheel drive.


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## Finallyafter50yrs (Feb 12, 2021)

I will just follow on what others have said about the usefulness (I would argue necessity) of a tractor over a mower. We purchased a property with 8 acres of pasture a few years ago but we are just now getting to the point of crossfencing and putting up a shelter for our horse, which has been boarded elsewhere. So in the meantime, we have 8 acres of excellent dry land pasture grass that gets to 5’ high by July. In year 2, we invested in a Deere 2038R with bucket loader, snow blade, landscape rake and, most importantly, a 5’ rotary cutter. It seemed like a huge financial outlay at the time, but zero percent financing over 5 yrs made it manageable. I don’t know what we would have done without that tractor. The Deere dealership taught us how to operate it. It’s not difficult, there are many safeguards built in, and now I love driving it around taking care of the heavy lifting and maintenance that comes with 10 acres in the country.

Last year a local farmer mowed and baled for us with his much larger tractor/mower/baling machinery. I thought we had negotiated $700 cash to us to cover the cost of that year’s fertilizer. He carted off 36 large round bales, a great crop, worth about $2500 at the time. But then he decided he’d rather give us a quarter of his grass-fed beef instead of cash. It was an adventure, but one we wouldn’t choose again. So this year, we plan to negotiate for half the hay as we are almost ready to bring horses home, and if that offer is refused we will cut ourselves and let the cuttings mulch for next year’s growth. Weeds are a constant issue so it has to be done one way or another. I just can’t imagine tackling this without the 5’ rotary cutter.

Best of luck with your new property!


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## janarnold (Jun 22, 2021)

Yes, it is complicated to make a pasture. I remember how many problems the weather caused us at this time. Sometimes heavy hail, sometimes rain, and so we have nothing on the farm did work. Then I sold my horses and decided to think about getting beef, namely the Angus breed. Recently, my geneticist friend told me that some companies buy embryos of different animals. I felt that this is complete nonsense, I have never heard of this, and then he showed me an article about how Angus embryo for sale. And I realized how much progress has gone forward now... After I buy cows in this way, maybe I will purchase horse embryos, if any, because it is so convenient.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

Are there farmers in your area that feed cattle? Sometimes they will come and cut and bale your pasture. It is a win win situation as you get your pasture cut and they get some feed for their cattle. It might not be the best hay but ok for cattle and this year with some dry areas hay is going to be scarce so a farmer might be interested in your pasture grass..


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## Rudytoot (Feb 14, 2020)

Grasses have a life cycle and their intent is to reach their highest protein level to produce seed, then go dormant for the next season. So when you allow you grass to get really tall it may have already produced the seed heads, and is just taking in water until the frost comes. At this point, it is the lowest level of nutrition for animals that eat it. You can still bring it back to the beginning as long as it is a grass, and not a cereal crop. 

I read where you said you were going through Texas, but was not sure which way you were headed. This time of the year, the rains are not coming like they should, so be careful not to take the grasses too short. What ever length you cut the top of your grass, that will be the length of your roots, as often you see grass leave white streaks when you cut it lower than normal. I personally try not to cut it any shorter than 6" at this time of the year. What you are wanting is a new growth to come from the crown of the grass. Not sure what kind of grass you have, but some grasses will not thrive if you cut the crown too close. I do know that Orchard Grass stores it's energy in the crown, and if you cut it close, it will die back. Bermuda grass stores it in the crown as well, but has a very deep root system that it can regenerate itself. But when you cut it way back this time of the year, it is very hard for it to produce enough energy to come back in the heat and the dry weather we are having. 

Fescue stores it in the crown as well, but is much better at coming back than Orchard grass, but is the least nutritious of the three. Crab grass gets a bad name from the farmers, but is one of the hardiest grasses, and horse will eat it first, and it is full of nutrition. They will eat it often before they will eat clover. 

The main thing you want to do is to have new tender growth sprouting from the crown as that is what is most palatable to a horse. It tastes better and is much more tender to chew. Fresh pasture has so much more in it than what grains offer. See what kind of grasses your pasture has in it, and look at what all it gives to your horses.

I like to have white Durana clover mixed in with my pasture as it gives it a dose of nitrogen. Per every 10% of clover per acre, it supplies that acre with 100 lbs of nitrogen fertilizer as clover is a legume and brings nitrogen back to the soil. The clover will flower off and on during the season. It just depends what type you have. I do prefer white clover over the reds and pink.

I mow my pastures when they begin to go into boot stage, where you can see the seed head forming inside the sleeve of grass. At that point, they are the highest point of nutrition. Once the seed head pops out, then your grasses have done their job at reproducing. So, there is not really a height that they are called at. 

Often, Bermuda can go to seed at a short height. Fescue can get quite tall as can Orchard Grass. Crabgrass can get tall too. 

I have a tractor and a bush hog, and have a Zero turn mower. My Zero turn height will only go as high as 5.5." I really want my summer grasses taller than that because when you can get the grasses a bit taller, it helps to shade the roots from the sun and slow down the drying of the soil. I like for my pastures to be around 6-8" with no seed heads developing. But sometimes that is not possible with dry weather. 

Be sure to take soil tests and take to your county agent to keep your grasses healthy and growing strong. It is one of the best feeds that he has. We have a tendency to like the bagged feeds the most, but they were meant to graze. 

It will be nice to have acres for your horses. They love having that freedom. 

You spoke of goats, they are more of a browser. They love the weeds growing in the pasture more than the grasses. But will eat the grass if the weeds are gone. The one thing that aggravated me about mixing goats with horses was the goats can jump anywhere they want to be. So if you have a feed trough or a hay area, get ready to find the goats sleeping in the horses plates! They love to be in the middle of the horses hay and ruin it with urine and pills. Goats must have a dry place to get and like to be up off the ground because they are more susceptible to respiratory problems. So that is why God instilled it in them to be up off the ground and to run like crazy when it starts raining. Just like when birds fly North for the winter, each animal has rules installed to maintain health. 

But goats can be sweet, but are always thinking of something new to do. If you have a woven fence, do not get goats with horns. They get hung up in that so often. That is a pain in the rear.


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