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New Grass Season, New Rules.

 

Barry Murray MSc | Chief Agronomist Goldcrop Limited

2020 saw the introduction of new measures with regards to clover usage for those farmers who are in, or were about to enter, Nitrates Derogation 2020.   All new reseeds must contain 1.5 kg/ha (0.6 kg/ha) of naked clover.  This includes white clover varieties such as Chieftain in grazing mixtures. Red clover varieties such as Fearga in silage mixtures is another example.

What Should a Progressive Farmer look for in a Grass Seed Mixture?

Reseeding is a vital part of keeping any livestock farm productive and profitable.  Every farm should aim to reseed at least 10% of the farm annually, regardless of weather conditions.  Modern recommended list grass varieties offer improvements in yield and digestibility over older material by the very nature of being on a recommended list.  Anything that is new on the Irish Recommended List must offer improvements on any variety that it replaces.  This ensures genetic progress is carried through from a research-level to an on-farm commercial scenario. Reseeding also offers an opportunity to control difficult weeds such as docks, thistles and unproductive grass weeds such as creeping bent and scutch.

Cork is a county that has a rich tradition of dairy farming and has one of the largest dairy herds in the country at nearly 390,000 cows.  With peak cattle and calf numbers in the early spring coupled with on/off grazing practices that might be employed during difficult weather periods in the spring, the mixtures that contain varieties which have the following characteristics are vital:

  • High Spring growth
  • High Ground Cover Scores
  • Great Palatability (i.e. high grass intake and as a consequence higher milk yields and live weight gain)
  • Ability to stretch grazing between rounds without getting stemmy
Varieties that would satisfy that would include:
  • Astonking – a new very high yielding late diploid with exceptional spring growth
  • Meiduno – An exceptional late tetraploid variety with unreal spring growth and high total yield
  • Astonenergy – the best ever  variety for graze out, digestibility and animal performance 
  • Oakpark – The highest ground cover score late diploid on the recommended list that offers excellent seasonal growth and is also suitable for silage if required

Information from research farms such as Teagasc Moorepark and Clonakilty Agricultural College must also be considered.  These are some of the leading research farms in the world and are on our doorstep. The research that is carried out, particularly the livestock grazing trials must be considered. This is because they operate under the same regimes as many leading dairy farms. 

 

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/check-out-this-new-reseed-from-beginning-to-end/

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