To reclaim an overgrown pasture, walk it for wire, holes and rock first, take the brush and saplings down by mulching or clearing, grind out the stumps a mower or hay rake would hit, and then lime, fertilize and seed by a soil test before the field's sprouts and seed bank take it back. The machine work opens the field quickly; the next two growing seasons of mowing, grazing and spot treatment decide whether it stays open.
Read what has grown in
What is standing in the field tells you how long it has been let go and what you are up against. Trees seed in from the edges first. NC State notes loblolly pine commonly spreads into old fields by self-seeding, and Forest Service research lists abandoned pastures among the places eastern redcedar moves in. Both are easy to deal with, since a pine or cedar past the seedling stage does not regrow from a cut stump. Sweetgum, sassafras and black locust are harder because they sucker from roots. Multiflora rose, autumn olive and thorny Callery pear mean invasive follow-up for years. Make a rough map of which is where before choosing a method for each part of the field.
Walk it before any machine does
Old pastures hide the remains of whoever farmed them. Look for fence wire lying in the grass or grown into trees, T-posts, old gates, rock piles, ditches, springs, wells, dumped equipment and holes. Wire is the worst of these: it wraps around mulcher heads and mower blades and can whip loose. Flag everything you find with tape or paint and mark it on your map. While you walk, note where water runs and where the ground stays wet, because those spots decide where machines can go after rain and where erosion will start if the ground is laid bare.
Bush hog, mulcher or full clearing
Match the tool to the stems and the plan. A tractor and rotary cutter handles soft growth and thin stems. Once saplings are thicker than a broom handle, a forestry mulcher grinds them where they stand and leaves chips instead of piles. If the field will be plowed, disked or cut for hay and has trees of any size, pulling the stumps and roots may be worth it, since mulching leaves stubs and roots that a disk will find. The mulching versus clearing guide sets out the tradeoff, and many fields end up with both: mulched edges and a cleared middle.
Stumps are the hazard you cannot see in tall grass
Mulched or cut trees leave stumps, and in a hay field or horse pasture a stump at grass height is a hazard. It catches mower decks, hay rakes and tedders, and it is easy for an animal to step on. The fix is grinding each one below the surface so the field can be mowed flat. Stumps in a fence row, or right where a gate post or water line will go, may need to come out whole. Pasture and fence line stump grinding covers how that is done across open ground, with the grindings raked back so the grass can close over.
Livestock safety during and after the work
Keep animals off the field until the brush is gone and the wire has been picked up. Cut brush is a particular risk with one common fence-row tree: NC State Extension says black cherry leaves, fruit and seeds contain cyanide compounds and are likely to cause death in livestock that eat them. Get cherry limbs and tops off the field or chipped rather than lying where cattle, horses or goats can reach them. Walk the field once more for nails, wire ends and sharp stubs before turning animals back out, and ask your vet or the county Extension livestock agent about other toxic plants in the brush.
Fix the soil before you seed
Ground that has grown up in brush has gone years without lime or fertilizer. NC State Extension puts unlimed soils in the region at roughly pH 4.5 to 5.5, far too sour for good grass, and lime needs months in the ground before it changes that. Pull samples as soon as the field is open. North Carolina samples go to the state agriculture department's NCDA&CS lab, so check its current fee schedule for farm samples; South Carolina samples go through the county Extension office to Clemson. Seed by the results. For mountain pastures, the Henderson County Extension office puts the tall fescue window at the tail end of summer into September; ask your own county office which forage mix suits the field.
Holding the field once it is open
The first two seasons are when an old field tries hardest to go back. Sprouts from roots come up all summer, and seed from the edges lands on every bare spot. Mow before weeds set seed, keep grazing pressure even, and spot-treat the invasive sprouts by the label. Multiflora rose is the classic case: the N.C. Forest Service says a yearly cut holds it back but will not kill it. Watch what you bring in, too: the same agency lists contaminated hay among the ways Japanese stiltgrass spreads into pastures and hay fields. Buy clean hay and seed, and clean equipment that worked weedy ground.
Common Questions
Can an overgrown hayfield be put back into hay?
Usually, if the stumps are dealt with. Hay equipment runs close to the ground, so trees and saplings have to be cut and the stumps ground below the surface or pulled, then the soil limed and fertilized by a soil test and the stand reseeded where it is thin. Plan for a season of mowing sprouts before the first good cut.
Do cedars and pines need their stumps removed in a pasture?
Not to stop regrowth: redcedar and loblolly pine past the seedling stage have no way to sprout from a cut stump, according to Forest Service research. The stumps still stand above grass height and wreck mowers, so grind them below the surface if the field will be mowed or hayed.
When can horses go back on a field after it has been cleared?
Once the brush and tops are gone, the wire and debris have been picked up, and the stumps are ground or flagged. Check that no black cherry branches or leaves are lying in the field, since NC State lists them as poisonous to livestock. New seedings also need time to root before grazing, so ask your Extension agent.
What to Do Next
Have a field that got away from you? Send photos from the gate and from the middle, the rough acreage and your town, and Jordan can price opening it back up. (828) 574-4474 or see forestry mulching.