Grass height for winter

Anonymous-0 · Oct 6, 2013

I was just wondering what is the "best" height for hay and pasture grasses going into winter? I've always been told shorter grass in the fall grows better in the spring? your thoughts??

MSS3020 · Oct 7, 2013

My two cents is I like it longer.. catches the snow when it blowes across. I just mowed my 2nd cut week ago.. already has grown back to 8 inches or so.

randallinMo · Oct 8, 2013

What "you've been told" could not be farther from the truth. During the fall, grass plants will build carbohydrate reserves. Over-grazing of those plants will not allow this to happen, thus your spring greenup/growth will be MUCH slower.

The only way to build up carbohydrate reserves in the grass plant is to let it grow in the fall (probably specfically the month of October). "It takes grass to grow grass" is an absolute truth. You need the plant growing to have enough leaf area to allow for proper /adequate photosynthesis which in turn allows for more growth which in turn allows the plant to build root reserves which allows it to survive the winter well. Your spring growth response will be MUCH greater.

To answer your question, you probably need a minimum of 4-8 inches of leaf area "left" before you start to graze those pastures in the fall. It does vary by species of grasses. When all top growth has ceased and the soil temperature drops to 40 degress, then you can successfully graze those pastures throughout the winter without any detrimental effects.

Grass height for winter

Anonymous-0

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MSS3020

Well-known Member

randallinMo

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