Too late to cut hay field in S. Ontario?

[IndyIan]

I've got an unused former hay field, last cut 6 years ago, that needs to be cleaned up. I was thinking of going over the whole thing with the rotary mower to find all the old ground hog holes and humps again and level those up, and also get all the old dead grass cut down and hopefully have it good enough to have it cut for hay next year on generous shares as I don't have any haying equipment.
Will I be stressing the grass cutting it this late? Its mostly brome grass with a scattering of alfalfa. If I cut down to 5", is that low enough that a haybine won't pickup the cuttings next year?
Any other things I should do to get the field ready for next year? The holes and humps caused some scalping last time it was cut and the farmer wasn't to happy with his discbine cutting dirt and didn't want to cut it again. I figure I can atleast make the field level for next year now that I have a tractor.

 

[leonz]

If you can find a neighbor that has a FLAIL SHREDDER that you can rent or hire him or her/you need to take the hay field right down to the ground to prevent winter kill and aid the alfalfa in coming back sooner.

You need to cut it down to two inches in height to shred and mulch all the cuttings with a flail shredder


The use of the a flail shredder to clear the fields down to the ground and is the best way to do this quickly and efficiently as a rotary cutter does not cut low enough or shred the debris as efficiently.:cool2: