Countryside Seeds Ltd

Countryside Seeds Ltd

As of the 1st July a slight change to the business, it's become incorporated and with it a change of name. Farm machinery sales have not been a part of Farm Equip's business for a number of years and we felt now was the time for a new name to reflect more of what we do, so Countryside Seeds Limited was born.

We still offer friendly service and advice with up to date products at keen prices.

Company History

Farm Equip was launched by myself (Kevin) on the 1st January 1980. Initially selling farm consumables from the back of a yellow transit van.

Over the past few years the business has become almost predominately the sale of seed in its varies guises where it be a single bag of lawn seed to tonnes of grass/cereal seed.

I am in the very lucky position to be a distributor for some of the UK’s leading seed houses which include Barenbrug UK Ltd, DLF Trifolium Ltd, Grainseed Ltd and Soya UK to name a few.

I am more than happy to work with the customer on compiling their own mixture.

To contact me you may PM through the forum or I am very happy to be telephoned on 07881 804442.
Email: [email protected]

As like a lot of you I'm self employed so no 9-5 here so please telephone at your convenience.
 
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Great In Grass

Member
Location
Cornwall.
Limagrain catch Crop mixtures from Countryside Seeds.

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Great In Grass

Member
Location
Cornwall.
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How to Recover Your Lawn Following the 2018 Drought
Overseed your drought damaged lawn.

How to Recover Your Lawn Following the 2018 Drought
After the drought of 2018, many lawns, pitches and parks were left damaged, dry and even dead. Here at Barenbrug, we have some top tips on how to revive your turf from our grass seed experts…


THE BASICS

  • Repair lawn in spring or autumn
  • Reseed bare patches
  • If the whole lawn is patchy, it may be advisable to totally re-seed the lawn


Patches in lawns can appear for a number of reasons, and when they do, it is always advisable to repair your lawn. The hot, dry summer of 2018 left many lawns badly scarred and in desperate need of repair. Although it may seem sensible to just turf the area, the problem may reoccur. So, the best method is often to overseed, which is generally the best long-term solution. Professional groundsman use this technique to restore worn areas on sports pitches, turning them back into lush green carpet in just a few weeks. Reseeding, or turfing bare patches will prevent weeds germinating in the patches, and of course, it looks much better.



WHERE

If your lawn is thin and patchy and has brown spots, perhaps from physical damage or wear and tear, it should be repaired. You may just be looking for a green and healthy lawn, the answer is overseeding — a natural way to thicken your lawn and crowd out undesirable weeds. If the lawn is really bad, then total re-laying or re-seeding may be necessary.



WHEN

Ideally in spring or autumn, when the weather is damp and cool, as the lawn is most likely to recover well in these conditions.



HOW…


THE STARTING POINT

Thorough ground preparation is vital for a successful lawn and lawn repair project.

  1. Mow the lawn to a short height and rake to remove debris and thatch. If needed, kill off any weeds or moss a week or so before scarifying, to prevent it from spreading to other areas, this will also stop any of the new grass being killed by the weed killers.
  2. Use an aerator or a hand fork to open up the soil in your lawn, relieving compaction and waterlogging – one of the number 1 issues in most lawns/gardens.
  3. Loosen the top soil down to 6-15 mm (up to ½ inch).


SOWING THE SEED

  1. Sow the seed in accordance with the instructions on the packet, either by hand or drop spreader.
  2. Lightly rake over.
  3. Roll lightly or walk over to press the seed into the soil.


WATERING

  1. Water in thoroughly, avoiding washing away any soil or seed.
  2. Keep well watered until the grass is established and growing strongly.
  3. In hot, dry conditions the soil can become water repellent, which prevents water from reaching the roots of the grass plant. To help the water to reach the roots, spike affected areas with a fork to allow the water to penetrate.


Once established, lightly trim the grass and then follow through with mowing every couple of weeks, reducing the cutting height as appropriate.



Removing a patch

Cut out the damaged area of turf in a square, using a half moon edging iron to cut the square and a spade to lift it. Lightly fork over the soil in the base of the removed square. Sprinkle some crumbly top soil or compost over the base of the removed square. Then seed and water as before.



Remember

  • Don’t panic if grass doesn’t appear in 2-3 days.
  • Keep the area well watered until the grass is established and growing strongly.
  • Water every few days if the weather is dry.
  • Germination will typically take 2-3 weeks, depending on temperature and species of grass. For fast germination, choose a mixture containing perennial ryegrass, such as Barenbrug Essential E2 or E3.
  • Try not to use the lawn until the grass is well established.
  • Don’t forget to deal with perennial weeds as they appear to ensure they don’t deter new grass growth.


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Great In Grass

Member
Location
Cornwall.
Order your Sovereign kale now, Sovereign is a high yielding, medium-tall forage kale with good club root tolerance.

In agronomic tests conducted by the Scottish Agricultural College in Aberdeen, Sovereign was shown to have good dry matter yields and excellent leaf-to-stem ratio and compared statistically very favourably on all counts with Caledonian kale. Successfully tested for winter hardiness and keeping ability, it has the potential to maintain good quality production over a longer usage period.

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Great In Grass

Member
Location
Cornwall.
Order your Humbolt forage rye now before it's sold out, provides an early spring feed.

Animal: Dairy, Beef & Sheep

Utilisation: Graze in situ, Ensile & Zero Graze

Sowing Period: Autumn

Humbolt Forage Rye is a UK Bred forage variety producing excellent early spring growth, which can be used for an early turnout for cows or an early graze for sheep.

Strengths
UK proven
Good early spring growth
Winter hardy
Flexible sowing options after cereals or maize
Filling the hungry gap period

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Great In Grass

Member
Location
Cornwall.
"Leafy" turnip varieties available.

AVALON LEAFY TURNIP

Avalon is a very leafy turnip that is late flowering, covers the soil very fast and is winter hardy. This variety can be sown in spring or autumn and for forage production these
leafy turnips can be grazed after just 6-8 weeks. Avalon also has a very high dry matter yield and excellent resistance to Alternaria.

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APPIN LEAFY TURNIP


The fast–growing grazing turnip Appin is an ideal catch crop to boost summer forage production and provide a break for pest control ahead of autumn grassland reseeding, according to Germinal.
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Sown before the end of May in most parts of the UK, either following early grazing or first cut silage, this brassica forage crop will establish quickly and yield 4–6 tonnes of dry matter per hectare in 8–10 weeks.

“Unlike any other brassica forage crops, Appin can be direct drilled into spayed–off grassland,” explains Germinal GB national agricultural sales manager Ben Wixey. “As it establishes and grows so quickly, there is time to use it as a catch crop over the summer months ahead of autumn reseeding.

“This crop has a high leaf–to–bulb ratio, so provides high quality grazing for sheep or cattle. It has good resistance to club root, alternaria and mildew and is very drought tolerant, so offers a lot as a summer forage crop.

“With the recent withdrawal of pesticides used to control common pests of new grassland such as leatherjackets and frit fly, a short term break crop could be particularly advantageous in reducing risks.”

Appin is recommended for sowing at a seed rate of 5kg/ha and is available through Countryside Seeds Ltd.
 

Great In Grass

Member
Location
Cornwall.
Summer Multi Graze brassica mixture.

A blend of fast growing grazing turnip and forage rape, with the added high yield quality and regrowth potential of Swift.
Sow from the end of April.
Graze within 8 weeks.
Feed from June to October.

The mix:

0.50kg Appin Stubble Turnip
1.00kg Swift Utility Brassica
0.90kg Stego Fodder Rape
0.10kg Maris Kestrel Kale

Seed rate: 2.50KG/acre

Packed in 2.50kg's
 

Great In Grass

Member
Location
Cornwall.
Nothing Mythical With Unicorn rape/kale hybrid

Limagrain UK is launching Unicorn, a new rape kale hybrid brassica, this month. Bred by Limagrain, Unicorn is a fast-growing leafy catch crop. It is backed with outstanding results from UK trials that place it as one of the best performing rape kale hybrid brassicas available to UK livestock producers.

Energy values of 11.2 MJ per kilo of dry matter producing 49,500 MJ per hectare and dry matter content of 12.4% were recorded in trials carried out at Limagrain UK’s Lincolnshire site in 2018. The dry matter yield was 11% above the control variety.

“These yields were recorded in the dry conditions of 2018,” says Limagrain’s forage crop director, Martin Titley. “Crops were sown in May and harvested in November. While many other forage crops struggled in the dry conditions, Unicorn coped with the drier conditions and ranks as one of the top rape kale hybrid varieties for key parameters, such as yield and energy content, alongside the established rape kale hybrid variety, Interval.

Unicorn can be sown from May until late August – either by direct drilling at five to six kilograms per hectare, or broadcasting at six to seven kilograms per hectare. The crop should be ready for grazing within 14 weeks.

“It’s an ideal variety to include in a grassland rotation or for sowing after cereals in July or August. And it offers an ideal feed for finishing lambs, or for ewes or dairy cattle in late summer to early winter.”

As a hybrid brassica, it’s easy to grow and benefits from farmyard manure or a slurry application pre-sowing. If these aren’t available, then 60kg to 90kg of nitrogen with 25kg each of potassium and phosphate per hectare, can be applied.

“We’re seeing significant interest in rape and kale hybrids because of their flexible sowing period and high feed values,” adds Mr. Titley. “Unicorn is an attractive addition for this summer as conditions to date are dry. Like Interval, it has some tolerance to Alternaria and Mildew.”


 

Great In Grass

Member
Location
Cornwall.
‘Reseeding gives you the greatest return on investment above all things’

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“As an investment, if you’re wondering where to invest your money on the farm, reseeding gives you the greatest return on investment above all other things.”

This was a statement made by Vincent Treacy – a Teagasc advisor – at an event hosted by Glanbia where he outlined some of the key reasons why it is so important to carry out reseeding on your farm.

Firstly, he explained how reseeding can increase the “amount of grass grown on the farm, along with improving the feed value of the grass grown – through increasing the amount of perennial ryegrass in the sward”.

Studies have shown that over time the amount of perennial ryegrass in a sward decreases – particularly in swards that are cut often.

You could have a sward that was reseeded five years ago that now only has a 50% ryegrass content or you could have a sward that you have recently taken over with only 5% perennial ryegrass content.


Then, turning the groups attention to the graph, he said: “If you look at the bar chart you can see the blue bars – which are 100% perennial ryegrass – and the green bars which have about 15% perennial ryegrass.

“The main benefit as you can see from the graph is in early spring; when there is a greater amount of grass grown in the months of February and March, compared to the lower perennial ryegrass sward.

“If you want to get stock out early, it is the perennial ryegrass that will do that for you.

The reality is that you are probably growing an extra tonne of dry matter (DM) just in the month of February which equates to about €160 to €180.


Additionally, when the quality of the grass is increased, “you are getting more energy into the cows”.


Vincent emphasised how, “farmers will often say, the milk in the bulk tank has gone up”.

Along with an increase in energy, the quality of silage made from these reseeded swards is much higher compared to older swards with a lower ryegrass content.

Vincent also mentioned that “if you increase the grass grown on the farm you can increase the stocking rate on the farm – because there is more grass available to utilise”.

Finally touching on graze outs, he said: “When you look at the difference in graze outs between two swards, if you have an old pasture, cows are not inclined to graze it out well.

“But, if you go into a perennial ryegrass sward with good proportions of tetraploid and diploid varieties, cows will just mow it up.”

It is all of these extra benefits from the new reseed “that will make the pay backs on the investment for years to come,” he concluded.



Emma Gilsenan
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.2%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.8%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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