Farm Visit 7 July 2010

17 members attended the July meeting of the Cushendun monitor farm group.

Scott Laidlaw from AFBI attended the meeting.

First stop was in 12 acre field 3 behind the yard which had been reseeded with grass and clover in late May after being burnt off with roundup and ploughed.

This low lying field had been very wet during the winter and spring and the group had decided that sub-soiling would help the drainage.

Paddy had sub-soiled the field with one of the new sward lifter type sub-soilers before ploughing.

There was a lively discussion on the merits of sub-soiling.

Ground conditions were very dry at the time of the meeting so it was not possible to assess the benefits of the sub-soiling  but the group will be able to see the effects of the sub-soiling over the next year.

The reseed was well established although it had been under some stress during the dry June, however the rain had arrived just in time.

There was some redshank in the reseed but the group did not think there was enough weeds present to justify spraying.

The group then travelled to the Ballybrack Road farm where Pat McCambridge outlined the grass cover measurements for grass budgeting that Paddy and he had taken weekly throughout May and June. Pat also showed how these were used to manage the grazing rotation on the farm.

The group were impressed by the improvements made to the swards by making stock graze down grass covers to 4cm before being moved on.

Paddy was pleased with the increased stock carrying capacity and excellent animal performance that the rotation has achieved.

The group then viewed the swards that had been stitched and reseeded with grass and clover seed last summer.

Clover levels in all these fields had improved since the last meeting

* * Additional grazing added in from silage areas

The final stop was in field 49 a 2 acre field that had been burned off, ploughed and reseeded in late May with a mixture containing both red and white clover with perennial ryegrass.

This reseed had  suffered from the dry weather in June with poor establishment of the grass in some places but the clover seemed to have established well.

Paddy intends to cut this sward in the autumn and then graze it with lambs for finishing.

Back in the sheep house at the main yard and after a cup of tea chairman Kevin MacAuley wound up the meeting by thanking Paddy for getting all the reseeding work that the group had agreed completed so well and in such good time.

He also thanked Scott Laidlaw for his contribution throughout the evening and using his wealth of knowledge of clover to answer many questions from the group .