To make finished crops available for hunting, mow with a cutter bar delivery mower and rake or mow with a rotary mower. To give the doves easy access to seeds on the ground, dove prove and brown top millet can be burned to eliminate crop residue and expose the seed. Dove fields should be mowed about two weeks before hunting begins. It is possible to mow too early because seed begins to deteriorate when left on the ground and weeds will invade the bare ground. Many other kinds of birds, as well as insects, eat the seed.
Rain can cause the seed to germinate and sprout.
To make fresh seed available for a longer period of time do not mow the entire field at once. Instead, mow strips every week or so to make more food and feeding habitat available.