Grass is the cheapest feed available on farm and, if managed correctly, it offers significant potential to reduce the cost of production. However, crops can be extremely variable in terms of quality and quantity, so targeted investment into aftercut nutrition is key to realise the potential of the leys.
Understanding the fertility of your soil is an essential part of grassland management. There needs to be an awareness of the nutritional picture of each field, to ensure there is the right balance of nutrients to allow the ley to fulfil its potential. A blanket approach to fertiliser purchasing is often not the most cost-effective approach, as each field needs to be assessed individually.
Modern grass varieties and high quality mixtures have the potential to deliver superior yields and excellent feed values, but often grassland management and basic nutrition is overlooked, and new leys fail to deliver their full value.
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.
