Will you be sure to let us know when the open day on your farm is ….you make everything sound so handy ….be great to get some tips from such a top level farmer ….
Il tell ya what happened to lads cows were fed bad silage last spring then a drought more bad silage if they had less cows theyd be able to make good silage like i do .My milk is 5 percent behind last year but i fed alot more meal
Interesting snippet from the latest journal podcast, aidan was at a group last week where the ms sent for the group last year averaged circa 480kgs, and this year it was down to circa 430kgs with the same levels of meal fed at 900kgs, really hammers home how tough a year it was weather-wise
You can get modern varities of meadow fesue,cocksfoot,creeping red fescue.Very drought tollerant will respond to fert but wont die if doesnt get extremely super ground cover ive sown it on rough land super job
Ya agree re the wetter ground clover is just not suitable for a large parts of the country
Sorry wasn't referring to old grass, was talking re clover/ multi species etc discussion. Have put in a bit of clover here in drier half of farm and grazing in shoulders or even wet weather is more difficult than grass swards, I'm judging that at least 50% of my ground just isn't suitable for it.
My understanding is that the PRG in modern MSS mixes is the type that’s been bred for high N systems.
Again, it’s only my interpretation but the PRG for MSS, unless there’s only small amounts and 10-12 other species in the mix, should be specifically bred for inclusion in MSS. And not just the regular stuff lying around for non-MSS mixes.
5 years and yes it get slurry and K for each cut one application of phoscalia.
I'd say he means older varieties of grass seed which aren't as palatable anyway and do have a slightly deeper rooting system and an even deeper one with less nitrogen spread ...... like on beef farms. SORRY MOO REPLIED TO WRONG POST
HOw long are you putting out that leveller of nitrogen for silage and I presume that is with.slurry?
Seems a lot of solutions are more aimed at drought resistance etc and general good weather conditions. Would be more confident if some of these trials were done in heavier or higher rainfall areas
What do you mean by ‘sowing old pasture seeds’ ? By definition old pasture is land not reseeded.
You put in red clover cause of all the teagasc hype.Them boys are off there heads.Multipecies swards havent heard of them lately.wud be much better to sow old pasture seeds than that crap as it will survive without fert like id say 90 percent of beef farm pasture
Chalk and cheese comes to mind….
Well thats the trend of farmer round me same lads used to be big teagasc men with paddocks fancy suckler units new jeeps tractors till the money ran out
The thing is we are able to produce top quality silage with only 14 units nitrogen sprayed per acre so the savings with red clover are minimal and the grass only system is much more reliable. Then there is more flexibility with the grass only in that you can graze it as well. Cutting grass every 6 weeks the reseed will last indefinitely. we have one 30 acre field reseeded 12 years ago used for silage only and it is as good today as the day it was sowed.
Don't know why I put in a field of red clover this year, sorry for doing it now, the only thing is the grass and white clover I put with it should last the pace.
I can't believe you made that statement
I m sorry but running 300 acres of Kildare land in a beef and tillage system is a completely different proposition to running a dairy herd constrained by milking platform made up of reclaimed rock and bog in West cork
Compaction is a much bigger issue with it than your typical silage sward and limits slurry spreading opportunities in the spring.also it doesn't seem to yield quiet as much as a grass only but this year we are going to give it an early boost of nitrogen for first cut-25 to 30 units.finding a weather window to cut it is a little bit more difficult too as it needs a little longer on the ground.only realised lately that it's probaly not that suited to zero grazing as it s in the last few weeks of its 8 week cycle for cutting it sends nitrogen down to its roots for the regrowth so if you cut it less than that it ll impact the yield of the next cut.lastly grass will grow better when weather conditions are not perfect ,any sort of drought,prolonged wet,excessive heat or cold slows it down relative to a grass sward.its just that for feeding a dairy herd where there is more pressure to consistently feed every day grass can beat to the tune of your needs easier than a red clover sward.any debate and info welcome
Judging by your abrasive attitude on boards, and a penchant for rubbing people up the wrong way……
I’ve a strong feeling that your relations and neighbours might be thinking the same…..
Different cutting height but apart from that basic good agronomy and practice for a much better crop.
No need to get your hopes up, it's been tried, tested, and proven for decades.
A bit too much of a hippie bang off it though for a lot of farmers still.
what ever you think yourself lad. Scoff away all you like but it’s cheaper than paying 400 plus an acre for land and running around the roads every day to look after them
Wagon is best especially when cutting young soft grass.
Thanks lads, learning every day . Pity about her is she could have done better. She's not on feed to yield, no maize and she get 4kg in parlour all year with 3 kg top up of crimp wheat for 4 months. Always wondered what she would have done with better feeding.
Im a dairy farmer and i can tell u all that pig and big dairy farmers are the meanest out there i avoid anything to do with both at all costs.
When I got into financial problems in the eighties, I fed cattle for dairy farmers, no money would entice me back to it, silage was always above 70% DMD.
Was just about to say something similar - she didn’t do it all by herself
Wise men …..there good stockmen ,good with figures open minded …..that’s what attracts them to dairy farmers seeking a contract rearer ….guaranteed money every month
Great cow 🐄 👏 👍 good management
Where did u get ur figures is that jersey milk litres and solids seem very high percentage for the type of cw them lads have
