any grass experts....?

[L&M]

I am lucky enough to have 4 acres of summer grazing, but due to the wet summer, have way too much grass. The grazing has 2 small horses and 1 pony on it, who are normally out 24/7, unless the flies are bad when they may come in for a few hours each day. It is divided into 4 paddocks and rotated every 3 weeks.

I have booked a farmer to come and top it this week but have a few concerns:

- by topping it will it only encourage more grass growth?

- would it be safer not to top until the autumn as the longer grass has less sugar?

- as one of the paddocks has very long grass (sadly not quite thick enough for hay), will the toppings ruin the grass underneath?

- how long will it take for the toppings to rot down before I can put the horses safely back on it?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[be positive]

Topping will encourage more growth and thicken it up also.
If there is a lot of grass see if the farmer will cut it and take it for silage, I have done this before and it gets rid of unwanted cuttings and the farmer did not charge as he got some extra fodder, the other option is to leave it and make a late crop of hay, if the weather holds out it may be worth it.
After topping if the weather is dry the cut grass will dry rather than rot making it safe for turning out, otherwise it may be worth raking into piles and either burning or removing from the field before it rots.