If you cut them back, wait until they completely die back first and are completely brown, leaving a few inches above the ground.
The male's have little flowers too, so wait for the berries to know who is who.
I would just crush the berries and plant them once they get fully mature.
If they sprout in the spring, great, and if not, at least you haven't lost anything.
i find lots of seeds germinate in the compost pile too. so that's another place to use for starting seeds. bioavailable magnesium that is required for germination is there as well as the compost action helps remove the anti-germination seed covers some seeds like tomatoes and papayas have.
Excellent advice and thank you so much for sharing that.
not sure what prompted me to post that on this comment but i also know that most of the asparagus roots you buy in the stores are only a year old saving only that much time compared to starting yourself from seed. but there ARE websites with 2 and 3 year old roots to help get started harvesting sooner. along that vein one could also see growing asparagus as an investment since they can resell their excess older roots for more in those markets targetting impatient improptu gardeners.
Thanks a bunch! I will examine my asparagus more closely in the light of day tomorrow. :)