Growth rates this week dropped by 18% , so this rain will help a lot
Grazing Platforms are being well grazed down by cattle, with residues on some farms to nearly less than 1500 kg/DM/ha, this will help keep quality later in the season. Increasing interest in paddock grazing for Sheep and Beef – in my view this is a real winner , as the main investment is in Electric fencing and water supply – but this soon cover its cost in terms of reduction of bought in feeds
Platform Near Preston this week
This week- Plan for Silage ( we already have some cut ) , I have a stock of silage additive if you need some.
We know that multi Species leys are beneficial to both the soils in terms of boosting soil microbial activity and structure, to Livestock the mineral up take by the crop helps with health and immunity , from work I did in the borders of Scotland along with Field labs , we sampled herbal leys and compared them to just single species grass mix’s and recorded the Mineral levels in both crops – the herbal mix was higher in all but 2 of the 14 Major and trace elements we looked at.
Hermitage is a herbal ley available from Watson seeds made of the following components , it offers a wide grazing period through out the year along with a low input strategy once established
Farm feedback
‘I was looking for a grass mixture that would be productive on some of our heavy wet soils for intensive sheep grazing. Previously, I had tried more conventional mixtures but they did not last. I had heard about multispecies swards and the Hermitage mixture seemed to tick several boxes. I asked Andrew Best of Watson Seeds to tweak the mixture by reducing the timothy inclusion. The result is very pleasing, with a greater sward density and the ability to graze 4-5 ewes per acre.’
Ian Dickson, Scalpsie Farm, Isle of Bute.
Native upland species included
Maintains sward density under harsh winter conditions
Grass Renovation for Winter damaged fields What next ? When its dry enough Graze down as much as possible . Aerate if soil is capped on the surface Then scratch seed or direct drill new Grass seeds into the surface Sow seeds at 10 kg acre if just rejuvenating the sward or 15 kg/acre if it’s really damaged Then roll straight away to trap the moisture around the new seed.Graze for a following week I, this will help tread any seed back into the surface —then leave for 3 weeks so the new seeds have chance to germinate and establish. Graze ideally or cut in 4-5 weeks time once the new plants have anchorage in the soil (You should be able to pull anew seed and the plant should snap not pull out the whole new seedling). .
