HuntingNet.com Forums - View Single Post - Do you mow blended plots?
View Single Post
Old 08-22-2010, 06:31 PM
  #6  
haystack
Typical Buck
 
haystack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains of VA
Posts: 698
Default

Originally Posted by Ben / PA
If you planted the same mix again, you will kill your brassicas and turnips by mowing. Also, your oats are probably getting hit nicely by the deer, they may only be 6 or 8 inches high so you might be able to mow over the top of them, but I would still vote no on the mowing. That's why I keep my annuals and my perennials separate so that if I want to mow the clover I can. Blended mixes sound nice to me, but not practical if you want to mow. Just my 2 cents. I hope it works out either way you go.

First, I don't think he was asking about mowing the August planting. Perhaps he will clarify.

And who ever told you mowing would kill brassicas, turnips would be very wrong. They are used as cattle pasture in my area and they are grazed more than once. Ever seen what a herd of cattle do to a brassica field? lot worse than mowing....

"Grazing can begin when the forage is about 12 inches tall (70 to 90 days after planting. The pasture should be grazed for a short time period and the livestock removed to allow the Brassica to regrow. Rape may be grazed to a 10 inch stubble and 1 to 4 grazing periods may occur, depending on planting date and growing conditions. Turnips may be grazed to the ground the first time and the both tops and beets grazed in the second grazing. It is usually not necessary to dig the beets unless the soil is very hard."

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/forage/pubs/brassica.html
haystack is offline