Do I HAVE to mow ?

[JAD]

My food plots(clover,chicory,oats/wheat planted last Sept.)are now mostly dried out and pretty rough looking. I'm hoping to use a heavy disc to prepare them for re-planting in mid Sept. Lime is already down. Is it necessary to mow, or can I just disc everything down over the next couple of weeks and then seed & fertilize before a good rain in mid Sept.? Thanks.

 

[BSK]

If your disk can turn the ground, no need to mow.

 

[WRF]

I was mulling over the same question for the most part. I had some buckwheat that was high and thick and now dead. I thought about trying the heavy disc first and hope that it would not get wrapped up and clogged in order to save a step in the process, but recognized that I need to do some other bush hogging elsewhere anyway so I went ahead and hit those plots as well. I still perhaps should have just planned on just disking up instead of cutting and then disking. If you are not going to be torn up with possibly wasting a little time if the disc gets clogged up or if your are not getting good penetration and having to switch back to the bush hog, then try disking first. I assume that both would be with the same tractor. If they are on different tractors or if you are using an ATV for the cutting, then by all means try to disk first. Novice here, but that was my thought process.

 

[deerchaser007]

It would depend on how the chicory looks. You are at and leading into peak preference on the chicory in your plot. If you disc it, you loose it. Your forage is gone.

If the chicory looks good in the plot ,.. i would go in and just mow at the top of the chicory. Then i would overseed the wheat(or oats) and the clovers back in. THEN,.. in late feb. or early march ,. when the plot is dormant,. you can go in and overseed the clovers and chicory again.
This is more than likely what i try this year.Mainly because my chicory is the only thing holding on in this drought,... and the deer are hammering it.

 

[JAD]

The chicory is the only thing green, except for some weeds. But there isn't really that many individual chicory plants in the plot to provide much food. Either I didn't plant enough seed last fall or they just died out.

 

[Boone 58]

Sounds like a plan to me! i am really concerned with the lack of rainfall the last couple of years and the dim outlook for this year. If we dont get a weather change soon i am really worried. we need a really good 3 day slow soaker to get me excited but it seems we are sitting in a great vacumn and all of the rain is everywhere around us but never on us. We really need a change!!!! and fast