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To Brushhog or not

4.6K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Farmineer95  
#1 ·
So one of my alfalfa fields this year was out of sync with everything else and I got 4th cut off it Sept 14, which is usually as late as I wanna go here in MI (from what the old timers taught me anyway), for a general frost date of October 15.

Well, we didn't get a frost, and had ridiculously warm weather all through october/november and the field is now 2' tall and has finally died back for the year.

Owing to the long growth, should I run the brush hog over it to 5 - 6" to clean it up and help spring growth, or leave it as-is and clean it up with first cutting? Not really sure, it'll probably just shatter when the mower hits it - thoughts? opinions?
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
Yeah, the snow coverage is my #1 in the "not" column. I guess I'll leave for the deer. Was just weighing up possible fertilizer input reductions (which lead me to think brushhog for more of a mulching effect for faster breakdown).