Pasture establishment...mowing?

[NICC08]

I just converted a 2 ac portion of a bean field into a pasture.

I broadcasted my mix (3 types Rye, Brome, and Timothy) with my Gator.

It seems I've read somewhere the first growth should be mowed to help the grass get established. Instead of grazed. It makes perfect since in my head, but maybe I'm wrong?

I'd like to make the first growth into hay if possible....

NICC08

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Don't graze it for atleast a year, preferably 2. Unless the soil is extremely dry the animals will pull up some of the plants, root and all, because the root systems aren't established deep enough yet. If you have a good stand of desireable plants with few weeds, if it were me I'd let it grow to maturity (seed) then bushhog to scatter the set seed and to mulch the residue plants as a soil organic matter mulch. You can cut it for hay but you will remove seeds with the hay instead of leaving them to thicken the stand. Also you are removing a large amount of organic matter, which would otherwise be returned to the soil if bushhogged or grazed. Do remember that if you cut new plants too soon (before bloom) you are exhausting root reserves causing the plant to use up it's small amount of stored energy to regrow after cutting. Waiting to cut until bloom or later allows the plants to store up energy reserves in it's newly established roots before causing the stress of severing leaf matter. Bushhog high so as to cut the developed seed and scatter it while leaving several inches of leaf matter to continue to photosynthesize.

Note this advice is for my region of VA, as you have not posted your location. Seeing that you have sown Brome and Timothy I would guess you are farther north than us, so if anyone else has advice from colder regions then that would be more accurate than mine.

[NICC08]

Iowa, sorry.

NICC08

[Karin L]

I think what you are asking about is the fact about the weeds coming up, overshadowing the grasslings that are trying to get thru. That's where you need to go and do some cutting so that the grass will get ahead of the weeds and choke out the weeds enough so they don't grow back again. Cut the weeds when they have reached flowering stage; the apical meristems are at the top at this time (all monocots have their AM's on the top of the plant, not at the bottom like dicots do. [I hope I don't have that mixed up]) so when you cut, this kills the weeds but allows the grass to grow thick and full.

I wouldn't cut the grass crop period. The seed will establish by itself, letting Mother Nature do the work for you. These grasses have daughter tillers that have already started to grow out of the main plant, and upon next growth cycle, will grow up in replacement of the original grass plant. It is stil the same plant, yes, but the remnants of the senesced plant that you seeded will provide the biomass needed for the tillers to grow into full grass plants, as well as no cutting allows for the roots to continue to store reserves for the winter. Cutting at maturity just encourages more growth and more encouragement for energy reserves being stored in the roots to be brought up to make the grass grow again until the weather prohibits anymore growth.