Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
With the mowers set at 4″, I uniformly mow the pastures two or three times during
summer to prevent the undesirable plants from taking over or going to seed.
Richardattacksasmalltroublespotwithahandmower—oftenamoreexpedientap-
proach than getting out the tractor.
HARROWING
The principle behind harrowing a pasture after a grazing period is that it evens out rough
spots and distributes manure clumps. If you are in a dry, sunny climate, harrowing dries the
manure and might help to kill the parasite eggs. In humid climates, however, harrowing the
manure in pastures spreads the parasite eggs over a larger area while still allowing them to
be viable, and so in effect increases a horse's chances of reinfestation. In such a situation,
collecting manure and composting it is best. The other alternatives are to let manure accu-
mulate away from grazing areas and to harrow and leave the pasture vacant.
