Procedure for 2nd cut

Paddysniper

Hello,
Just looking for tips on getting second cut of silage.
How quick to spread manure on the bare ground and go for the same quantity of manure as the first cut?
Also the crop I have at the minute is light in places, nitrogen is well used up by now, is it worth giving it a few more weeks?
I know I'll get good advice in here

delaval

Paddysniper wrote: »

Hello,
Just looking for tips on getting second cut of silage.
How quick to spread manure on the bare ground and go for the same quantity of manure as the first cut?
Also the crop I have at the minute is light in places, nitrogen is well used up by now, is it worth giving it a few more weeks?
I know I'll get good advice in here

Mow tomorrow morning. The longer you wait the worse the quality will be and the later your second cut will be.
That's 54 units of N you will need 70 so go with a bag of ASN 24N-14S and that will drive it out if the ground for you. If you have slurry get it out after fert but not if it's really dry unless you have a trailing shoe. I guarantee you won't be calling our second cut light.

You should be spreading fert as the last loads leaves the field

iverjohnston

Fully agree with deLaval, get 70 units nitrogen out asap. If you have lots of slurry to spread, stick on a bag and a half of Urea if a few damp days are coming. If you haven't the first cut off, your looking at 3rd week August for second cut. Less scope for aftergrass , and the effectiveness of nitrogen in September falls off quickly as shorter days are racing in.

rocketjk

I have 3000 gal/ac of slurry out day after it was cut, what fert would be best to apply now for 2nd cut? and how much? was cut a week ago

tismesoitis

Slurry and fert asap. Cut our 1st cut on 29th may fert out that evening followed by 3000gals slurry over the next couple of days. walked it today at the top of the wellie already plan is to let it bulk up and cut the 1st august ang try for a 3rd cut on about another 15 acres. Thats the plan could all go tits up in time:D

delaval

rocketjk wrote: »

I have 3000 gal/ac of slurry out day after it was cut, what fert would be best to apply now for 2nd cut? and how much? was cut a week ago

1.5 Cutsward followed by 1 ASN

Paddysniper

Mother of jaysus that's a great response, thanks a lot.
No slurry yet on the farm so I was thinking 2-3 bags of cut sward 24-2.5-10.
If teagascs notices about fodder shortages are to go by, they recommend the equivalent of 3 bags of cut sward.
Not pushed on dosing the place with straight n as it needs the p & k.
There was hardly ever manure put out on this farm but it is good ground.

Does any of that make sense to ye?

FYM

Hi All,

First time poster long time lurker here, Sorry Paddy for highjacking your thread, but i have a question for you all.

Plan on going for second cut on ground that will hopefully be cut next week - Question is what would the fertiliser requirements be if pig slurry was to be applied at 2,000 Gals/Acre

Thansk in advance

Paddysniper

delaval wrote: »

Mow tomorrow morning. The longer you wait the worse the quality will be and the later your second cut will be.
That's 54 units of N you will need 70 so go with a bag of ASN 24N-14S and that will drive it out if the ground for you. If you have slurry get it out after fert but not if it's really dry unless you have a trailing shoe. I guarantee you won't be calling our second cut light.
You should be spreading fert as the last loads leaves the field

I read your post again and came up with a few questions.
Asn is pure nitrogen I take it, but what is the S for?
Also, I'd imagine the spreading of fertiliser could be patchy if the tractor is leaving no marks in fresh grass, is there a way to avoid this? GPS on a 35? Lol.
Thanks again.

Muckit

I really don't know how lads spread fertiliser accurately on freshly cut ground without gps or leaving it to green up a bit.

I spread with a 135 so no gps and left first cut two weeks before spreading

iverjohnston

Not too difficult in the average sized fields around here, where 6 acres is a nice size, and you can judge your position/distance from the hedge etc. Not so easy in a 20 acre field, or one with a rise in the middle where you cant see the other end or sides. Can you not count the number of marks from the swathes from the hedge etc?!!

Failing that you might have to get technical and buy a blob marker!

delaval

Paddysniper wrote: »

I read your post again and came up with a few questions.
Asn is pure nitrogen I take it, but what is the S for?
Also, I'd imagine the spreading of fertiliser could be patchy if the tractor is leaving no marks in fresh grass, is there a way to avoid this? GPS on a 35? Lol.
Thanks again.

Spreading fert is practice and one gets used to it. Unless your mower man/woman was drunk or in some way impaired you could follow the lines of the mower or use ditch markers. I've seen guys stepping it out and using pigtails to mark the runs.
We now use GPS and spread at 22m but before spread at 14 and mower marks worked well.