Summary of group meeting – 16 May 2011
Approximately 20 members attended the evening at the Co. Down and South Armagh monitor Farm. The meeting was used as a review of how the autumn reseeding of the red clover silage swards had established and also, to look at relieving soil compaction.
Farm update
- Cattle weight gain over the winter. Cattle were weighed at 25 November and on 10 March at turnout.
| Housing | Turnout | DLWG (KG/day) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steers | 357KG | 422KG | 0.62KG |
| Heifers | 278KG | 323KG | 0.45KG |
- Silage Analysis
| Home silage (fed to steers) | Outfarm silage (fed to heifers) | |
|---|---|---|
| Dry Matter % | 25.2% | 22.8% |
| Crude Protein % | 12.9% | 12.5% |
| Energy Mj ME/KG DM | 11.2 | 11.1 |
| D Value | 70 | 69 |
- Cattle sales
Bulls – av 342.5KG dwt @ 14.8 months
Steers – av 322KG dwt @ 24.3 months - Calving Index 2010 – 361 days
- Grass Growth on monitor farm
| KG DM/day | KG DM/day | KG DM/day | KG DM/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25/4/11 | 2/5/11 | 9/5/11 | 16/5/11 | |
| Av Daily growth | 73 | 56 | 63 | 68 |
At a stocking rate of 3 cows/ha – would require a typical daily requirement of 50KG DM grass/day, 12 ewes/ha would require 39KG grass DM/ha. Stock should generally graze down to 4cm (1600 KG DM/ha).
Approximate target grazing heights
4cm = 1600 KG DM/ha – remove stock by this point
6 - 8cm = 2600 KG DM/ha – ideal grazing height for sheep
10 -12cm = 3000KG DM/ha – ideal grazing height for cattle
6 - 8cm = 2600 KG DM/ha – ideal grazing height for sheep
10 -12cm = 3000KG DM/ha – ideal grazing height for cattle
Stop 1 –Savages far Field (Field 15/16 – 6.9 acres)
- pH = 6P = 1 K = 0
- Field was sprayed with glyphosphate after silage, aerated and grazed bare with dry ewes. Lime at 2t/acre was applied. Seeded using Einbock drill on 14 August.
- Grass mix was
1kg Alice White clover
3kg Delphin – Late ryegrass (tetraploid)
3kg Foxtrot – late ryegrass (diploid)
3kg Hybrid – Late ryegrass (tetraploid)
3kg Lemmon red clover
3kg Delphin – Late ryegrass (tetraploid)
3kg Foxtrot – late ryegrass (diploid)
3kg Hybrid – Late ryegrass (tetraploid)
3kg Lemmon red clover
- There has been a successful establishment of red clover and grass. Field has been grazed by lambs to encourage tillering.
- Phosphate and potash has been applied to boost fertility
Action
- Field will be cut for silage as soon as weather permits. It will be ensiled with six acres of straight perennial ryegrass, with the red clover ensiled in the bottom of the pit to aid fermentation.
- Ground will receive slurry and be closed for a 2nd silage cut – this time in bales.
- Silage will be fed to finishing cattle to reduce concentrates.
- Lambs may be used to raze in autumn to boost growth rates and reduce days to slaughter.
Stop 2 – Soil Aeration
- There was interest in seeing a demo on how the shakerator can open soil and relieve compaction in grazing and silage swards.
- On sheep grazing swards, holes were dug with an average depth of three inches before there was major soil compaction.
-This caused grass plants to be very shallow rooting as they could not permeate soil pan
-There was a discolouration in soil colour due to lack of oxygen.
-Soil structure had no fissures to allow natural drainage.
-Using the shakerator immediately opened soil to an average depth of 10 inches of loose soil.
-There was a discolouration in soil colour due to lack of oxygen.
-Soil structure had no fissures to allow natural drainage.
-Using the shakerator immediately opened soil to an average depth of 10 inches of loose soil.
- A second field was inspected that had been aerated last spring. Soil cores showed plant rooting to 6 inches, soil fissures and earthworm activity and no discolouration.
