field has been topped - advice please?

If the grass was left, I've got no idea - ages probably as not good for horses to eat mown grass. We had ours topped the other day however they collected the cut grass at the same time so horses went straight back out onto it.
 
not sure if it was left.. as grass heats up when cut and horses eat it, it can cause colic!
tricky one
 
What did it look like before they topped it, and to what height?

If its just lopping the tops off long stemmy grass and the weather been good, and it's not too thick (i.e. proper 'topping') then it'll prob be fine - go for a walk through it and have a look at what's left - it should just be like a thin scatter of (short) hay, and should be ok.

If it's been thicker than this and it's damp at all (or like 'lawn clippings') then you need to be careful - though it won't be doing your field any good being like that either tho - you'd have been better to get it mob grazed by cattle or sheep to clear any 'leafy' stuff, or if you've so much spare grass you could graze 2/3 of it shorter, and shut off the remaining 1/3 and have this cut and baled.

And obviuosly remember to lift any ragwort, since they'll eat this when it dries out.
 

thank you very much for your advice - i did happen to take pics.
grin.gif


before
the edges were like this
DSC00152.jpg


main section like this
DSC00149.jpg

DSC00151.jpg


this is after
main sec
DSC00158.jpg

DSC00155.jpg

sides
DSC00156.jpg
 
Because we only have one horse on a 4 acre field we top very regular like every tow weeks to keep the grass down, we top with the horse still in the field, and leave him in even after topping and have never had any trouble, your horses should be fine, the topped grass soon dries out.
 
Looks ok, i'd go for a walk through it with a fork and just spread out the thicker bits a little (it'll be better for grass as well, or you'll get die back under the thicker areas), but I wouldn't be too worried.

One thing I would comment on though is the maturity of the weeds - for topping to be anything more than aesthetic you want to get in and top the docks before they actually set seed - by the looks of things they'd already seeded before they were cut - i'd aim to go a bit earlier next year.

Does look lots better though!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Looks ok, i'd go for a walk through it with a fork and just spread out the thicker bits a little (it'll be better for grass as well, or you'll get die back under the thicker areas), but I wouldn't be too worried.

One thing I would comment on though is the maturity of the weeds - for topping to be anything more than aesthetic you want to get in and top the docks before they actually set seed - by the looks of things they'd already seeded before they were cut - i'd aim to go a bit earlier next year.

Does look lots better though!

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks , il try and remember that for next year. its really hard as i basically rent that field from a farmer to supplement my own paddock. my own paddock is fine for summer but i rented this to enable me to rotate a bit and stop mine getting poached.

we dont have any of our equipment so i have to ask very nicely for the farmer to come and do things like this for me, and i knew very little about managing grazing when i went it alone, lol! learning fast though! thanks again:)
 
You want to graze it down before topping, and go early, so that you are cutting a minimum amount of grass, and only really getting the weeds. It might be better just to spray it early in the season (early May) when the weeds are very small - not only will you make more of a 'dent' in them, but by killing them as small plants you are leaving less trash to suffocate the grass, as well as giving the plants less competition for light and soil nutrients.

Unless you've got a long term full repairing tenancy then it'll be in the farmer's interest to help you keep on top of weeds!
 
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