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How does cutting grass too deeply affect yield and silage quality? We determined this in a system comparison. Although it has been known for generations: cutting grass too deeply when harvesting brings dirt into the feed, endangers silage quality and slows down regrowth. Despite this, you can still see yellow stubble year after year, even among practitioners who actually have their business under control. Are the consequences of cutting grass too deeply not as serious as they always say? In a system comparison, we wanted to know how much of an impact cutting grass really has. For our comparison, we divided a strip of arable grass from Jens Haking's farm in Lingen-Wesel in Emsland into two parts and followed it through two cuts (Perennial ryegrass, 27 to 32 cm high at the first cut, sandy soil). We worked one side with optimally adjusted machines, and after deep mowing, the other was worked further with follow-on machines set to a low level. Important: Of course, we did not deliberately till the soil with it, but stayed within the limits of what is normal in practice. Read more in top agrar 5/2017