Benefits of reseeding - reaching your forage potential

Reseeding an existing ley can lead to a significant return on investment. Within several years ‘weed grasses’ will ingress into a sward – particularly if the field has experienced poaching or after a hard winter. These ‘weed grasses’ have poor quality characteristics compared to ryegrass varieties from the Recommended List. These include poor digestibility and a poorer response to fertiliser, as well as not converting to meat and milk as efficiently as ryegrass.

• Improved yields
• Higher DM intakes
• Enhanced disease resistance
• Earlier turnout of stock
• Increased stocking rate
• Increased palatability and digestibility
• Improved grazing and silage quality
• Higher response to nitrogen (N) fertiliser

With the increase in volatility of fertiliser prices, it is important that a grassland nutrient programme is cost-effective. It is essential that the sward comprises of grass species which respond to fertiliser to maximise on-farm profitability.

The graph below clearly shows the variance between perennials’ efficiency and the efficiency of common weed grasses when nitrogen fertiliser is applied.
These losses in response occur when N is increased from 50-150 units/ac.