Care of prairie grass restoration - burn or mow?

[lhfarm]

Three years ago, we started working on an old hay field, about 3+ acres or so. We used an early spring application of Roundup to get rid of most (but not all) of the fiscue that was the primary grass. Rented a no-till drill with a grass box to plant seed mixture from Sharp Brothers. We haven't touched the field for the past two years. A variety of grasses are growing, although there is still some fiscue in spots.

I know burning is the recommended maintenance, but the field is bound by woods (lots of pine and cedar). I read an article were a farmer was being paid to grow prairie grass instead of crops and he talked of "mowing it high" in the spring, instead of burning.

I am considering mowing with a bush hog set 6" or so and then raking with a hay rake. I can either pick up or bale the cuttings.

I would appreciate hearing suggestions or advice you all might have to offer.

Thanks,
Barry

[chrisjbell]

I'm no expert in this matter but my strong inclination would be to mow it. Burning has all kinds of possible nasty side effects. Maybe spot treat the fescue?

Burning is the best thing you can do for the grass. With that said if it's a danger to surrounding areas forget it and mow it. I would get a good harrow if you can't burn it. That will break up the dead grass and let the ground breathe better. You will get a better and thicker stand of grass as well.

What your friend gets paid is called CRP, conservation reserve program. You can only get this IF you have a crop base for your ground, meaning that ground will have usually have to have been farmed recently. If it has never been farmed you won't have a crop base and you won't be able to be in this program.

I wouldn't even bother mowing at 6" and then trying to rake and bale it. That's too high. Your best bet would be to mow it down lower. But with a rotary mower the grass will be cut up too fine to do alot with it. Find a sicklebar mower and do it that way. Then you can let it dry, rake it, dry, and then bale it.

[Ranchman]

Cowboydoc's got it right - burning is a very beneficial practice. Yes, you have to be careful, but if you take the proper precautions it can be done safely. Here in Texas it is a very common practice, and is endorsed by both the ag extension service and the parks & wildlife department. Although this link is geared toward Texas folks, I think it may help you understand a bit more about the practice. (click on the PDF to read it in Adobe.)

[MarkV]

Does the fire department or forest service offer any assistance with controlled burns in your area? In our area the forest service will do a controlled burn on wooded areas for free and the volunteer fire department will help with any other kind of controlled burn. Might be worth contacting your county extension office to see if they have any suggestions or know of assistance available.

MarkV

[chrisjbell]

Burning is best for the grass but can often have some nasty side effects. Out here (CA) they're trying to cut down on agricultural burning (especially the rice fields) because of the air quality issues. During the rice burns in the summer (or for that matter whenever a big fire starts cooking) the air gets pretty bad.

That might not be an issue here, though. And having said all that I burn several times a year (just not large scale - most of my pasture is treeless because of a fire that got out of hand before I bought the place). But other people burning makes me nervous [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ...

When I want to burn, I contact the local volunteer fire department and ask them to come out while I'm burning. They will put out the fire when I have burned all I need to. I then make a large donation to the department for their efforts.