New Entrants to Farming: Grassland Management – Event Summary

Wet weather has had a massive impact on farm businesses across South West Scotland since Autumn 2017. The meeting focused on how a grassland can recover through the spring and use lessons learnt to make plans for the future to make farms more resilient to bad weather.

The meeting covered all aspects of Grassland management and improvement. Grass is the ‘heart’ of the farm and is the cheapest feed source for livestock. We discussed maximising production from grass along with how to go about assessing and improving sward quality. Jan Vos, from Agrovista discussed what to look for in a seed mix and what options are available to rejuvenate grass swards.

Take Home Messages

• ph is vital to grassland management, if soil is too acidic other nutrients will not activate resulting in soil unable to reach peak yields.
• Soil sampling is key to understanding your soil needs. Before buying lime or fertiliser it is important to analyse what your soil is specifically lacking which will save your business time and money.
• Take time to choose your seed to suit your land, there are many grass seeds on the market with each variety specifically tailored to manage risk and maximise crop values by matching individual farm production.
• Be aware when oversowing that new grass will not be smothered by exsisting grass roots.
• Drainage and compaction plays a huge impact on the productivity and yield from sowing the seed to the finished crop.