Grass and muck - making brass out of muck

That’s going to be a recurring message given out by experts speaking at Grassland and Muck.

Around 40-45% of UK grassland is deficient in potash and more than half has a pH below six, dramatically reducing the efficiency of nutrient uptake by plants, pointed out Jon Telfer.

A development manager of analytical services at Yara, he added:

“Supplies of soil sulphur are more or less exhausted and there are a huge number of soils that need attention and some really straightforward gaps to be plugged.”

A comprehensive soil test typically costs around £30 and will be valid for about five years, so the return on investment can be considerable, said Mr Telfer.

“If you’re applying fertiliser to a soil with a low pH, or the incorrect grade of fertiliser, it will look expensive.

"This is about taking a measure to manage approach and a nutrient management plan will only be as good as the data you put into it.”

Another step to creating a nutrient management plan is to measure the nutrient content of organic manures.

Yara analysis showed that this can vary by a huge amount – the equivalent of up to £34/ acre.

“A nutrient-rich slurry might deliver 64kg/ha of nitrogen, 81kg/ha of phosphate and 129kg/ha of potash,” pointed out Mr Telfer.

“But, compare that to slurry with a low nutrient content of 21kg/ ha of nitrogen, 26kg/ha of phosphate and 44kg/ha of potash and you can see that extra fertiliser required to make up the difference is significant.

“Within average figures there is a wide range, so without testing their manures farmers may well be over- or under-applying fertiliser,” he added.

Taking a balanced approach to crop nutrition will not only boost grass yields, but also forage quality, he said.

“The sulphur to nitrogen ratio is critical. It affects the level of protein, sugar and starch in the grass, as well as its digestibility.

“Micronutrients are also important. Grassland managers need to know that there is life beyond 20.10.10 and it doesn’t have to be difficult.”

John Williams, principal soil scientist at ADAS, will be speaking about manure management at the event.

He said farmers should target manure applications at fields with indices of two and below for phosphate and potash.

“Slurry and muck is a hugely valuable source of nutrients – worth around £270/ha in fertiliser replacement value.

“But if a soil isn’t deficient then the nutrients are of less value, and the point is to make the biggest savings possible,” he argued.

Timing and application technique will influence the efficiency of nutrient uptake.

“If possible, separate your slurry as most of the phosphate and organic matter will be in the solids, with most of the available nitrogen in the liquid – that way you can better target its use,” he said.

“Fresh farmyard manure is less dense than older manure, so use weigh cells or a weighbridge to calculate how much you’re applying.”

Decent equipment will ensure an even spread of material, with dribble bars or injectors minimising atmospheric losses from slurry and ensuring grass can be grazed or harvested more quickly, added Mr Williams.

“Treat your muck like the valuable fertiliser it is and it will undoubtedly save you a lot of money.”

Beef lesson from the grazing dairy herd

BEEF producers could learn a lot from their dairy neighbours by making better use of grass, according to one of the key speakers at Grassland and Muck.

Grazed grass costs just £57/t of dry matter, according to AHDB figures, compared with up to £140 per tonne for a 16% protein cattle ration and visitors will be able to find out how to make the most of this low cost feed.

Speakers in the popular forum programme include Matt House – who switched his beef herd to rotational grazing at Bowden Farms, Templecombe, Somerset.

“Dairy farmers have been utilising grass to the maximum for years, but the beef industry has been slower to take this up,” he pointed out.

“There are low returns in the beef sector, so we need to do something different to cut our costs.”

He is taking part in AHDB Beef and Lamb’s ‘beef from grass’ project, which has involved soil sampling and setting up a nutrient management plan on the farm.

His year-round rotational grazing, moving the cows every 24-48 hours, means that he monitors grass growth on a weekly basis, using the data to generate a growth and demand profile.

“This allows us to make the best use of the grass, whether for grazing or conservation,” he said.

“Moving to a yearround grazing system has been a steep learning curve but has saved on feed, fuel and labour and is the best thing I could have done.”

BEEF CATTLE grazing land should be treated the same as more efficient dairy herds, industry experts will tell farmers at Grassland and Muck

Of course, it’s not just beef producers who can make more of their grass – there is plenty of room for dairy farmers to boost efficiencies too.

Kingshay data highlighted that the top 25% of dairy producers achieve 2530 litres per cow more from forage than the bottom quartile.

Either way, the same grass management principles apply, said Sarah Pick, scientific officer at AHDB Beef and Lamb.

The first step is to plan the grazing season: “Calculate how much grass is available, set up a rotation and keep a close eye on grass growth rates,” she said.

“Identify which fields are producing the most grass and coincide your rotation with that. Good infrastructure will ease management.”

It is also important to calculate how many cattle the grazing platform can support.

While mid-pregnancy cows need to be allocated 1.5% of their body weight in dry matter intake per day, late lactation cows should eat 2% of their body weight.

“Early to mid-lactation cows need 2.5% and growing cattle should have 3% per day. An average weight, number of stock in the group and area available need to be used as part of the calculation to plan stocking,” she added.

The ideal time to turn stock out is when pasture reaches 2500kg/ha of dry matter – around ankle height, said Miss Pick.

“When grass grows past this, utilisation and feed quality drops rapidly.”

Ideally, farmers should then take this pasture out of the rotation and shut it up for silage.

Cows should graze down to about 1500kg DM/ha (around 4 cm), and be moved to fresh pasture at regular intervals.

If there is too little grass, cattle will be forced to eat lower, which will prevent regrowth, so farmers should consider supplementary feeding where grass growth is insufficient.

- Sarah Pick and Matt House will be speaking at 13:30pm on Thursday, May 24 in the forum programme. Richard Simpson from Kingshay will also be speaking on maximising milk from forage, at 12.30 on May 23 and 24.

Soil conditioner helps root growth

A NEW soil conditioning package will make its debut on the Limagrain UK stand. Its Smart Rotation SR2 is a combination of microbes, including five isolates of a beneficial fungi and five strains of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria.

This has been developed to improve soil health and bring long term benefits to grass, cereal and maize crops.

“The benefits of this soil conditioning product are two-fold,” said Limagrain’s grass seed manager, Ian Misselbrook.

“It works as a biostimulant and in our replicated trials has been shown to increase yields of ryegrass swards by 36% consistently in cuts throughout the season.

“It establishes a symbiotic relationship with the host plant which promotes root development and improves soil condition and structure, which brings long term benefits to the soil and to existing and following crops.”

The fungi element increases the plant’s root system, thereby boosting its uptake of nutrients.

The rhizobacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen and also have bio-stimulant properties that also improve root development. It has been developed in the UK by PlantWorks.

It is targeted at use with grass seed mixtures and nonbrassica cover crops.

“Growers can mix SR2 with the seed at drilling or work it into the seedbed prior to sowing and the benefits can last for the life of the crop,” said Mr Misselbrook.

It costs around £38/ha to use, but Limagrain argued that based on an increase in yield of 36%, the extra dry matter per hectare would be worth about £200.