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.

 

[Great In Grass]

"Ensign" White Clover blend.

White Clover Blend

• ENSIGN is a blend of white clovers, which gives better animal performance, higher milk yields and better live weight gains.
• It also produces a better quality sward with fewer weeds and less disease
• It has an exceptionally long growing season and 'fixes' nitrogen from the atmosphere for maximum production

• Dairy
• Sheep
• Beef
• Grazing
• Silage

• By using a blend of different varieties there are always at least two that are best suited to whatever the management being applied to the sward
• Animals prefer to graze a clover / grass sward - this results in higher voluntary intakes and better animal performance
• Potential nitrogen fixation for white clover up to 150kg N/ha

Composition:
50% Crusader White clover
30% Alice White clover
20% Barblanca White clover

Specifications:

Sowing rate/acre
Up to 1kg/acre

Overseeding rate/acre
2kg/acre

 

[Great In Grass]

"Ensign Red" Red Clover Blend

• ENSIGN RED is a blend of red clovers which balances production through the growing season, while maintaining excellent persistency and disease resistance
• Managed correctly, red clover swards can meet the forage requirements of many farms and significantly improve the protein contents and overall feed value of winter forage
• It's better suited to silage production than white clover because of a more erect growth habit and its significantly higher forage yields

• Dairy
• Sheep
• Beef
• Grazing
• Silage

• Red clover silage has a high crude protein content of 16% to 20% and a ME content of 10 to 12MJ/kg DM
• Because red clover is high in phytoestrogen, breeding sheep should be kept off for six weeks either side of tupping
• Store / fat lambs can be fattened very effectively on red clover silage aftermaths
• Low levels of structural carbohydrate in the leaf result in higher intakes, better feed conversion and therefore improved animal performance
• Potential nitrogen fixation for red clover up to 200kg N/ha

Minimum pack size of 5kg

Specifications:

Sowing rate/acre
Up to 1kg/acre

Overseeding rate/acre
2kg/acre

 

[Great In Grass]

"Ensign Duet" Red and White Clover Blend

• ENSIGN DUET is a unique mixture of red and white clovers, developed to meet the need for rapid nitrogen fixation to feed new leys
• Red clovers establish faster than white and are able to make nitrogen available to the ley as the white clover is establishing

• Dairy
• Sheep
• Beef
• Grazing
• Silage

Additional benefits:

• Increased yield. Our mixture trials show a yield increase of 5% in the first year after sowing, worth around £100.00 per hectare (£40.00/ acre)
• The increase continued into the second harvest year, producing additional yields worth £75.00 per hectare (£30.00 /acre)
• Increases the overall protein content of the sward; red clover's protein content is around 17% compared to grasses of around 12%
• Because red clover is high in phyto-oestrogen, breeding sheep shoud be kept from grazing for six weeks either side of tupping
• Red clover is excellent feed for growing and finishing stock
• Contains recommeded Herbage Varieties Guide varieties

Minimum pack size of 5kg

Composition

67% Ensign Red Red clover blend
33% Ensign White clover blend

Specifications:

Sowing rate/acre
Up to 1kg/acre

Overseeding rate/acre
2kg/acre

 

[Great In Grass]

Order your Cool-Sile additive now.

Coolsile is a liquid preservative which is ideal for treating silages which are prone to aerobic spoilage

The preservatives in Coolsile inhibit the growth of moulds and yeasts. Moulds are responsible for producing mycotoxins which can effect animal performance and health. Yeasts are generally the cause of heating in clamps and together with mould increase losses, reduce palatability and lower animal performance Coolsile also inhibits clostridia and listeria which are a particular problem in high dry matter silages. This makes the product particularly suitable for use in haylage bales being fed to sheep and horses.

Coolsile is a combination of feed preservatives Sodium benzoate and Sodium nitrite which is are a safe to use format that will not harm machinery or concrete.

• Inhibits yeasts
• Inhibits moulds
• Inhibits listeria
• Inhibits clostridia
• Reduces heating in silage
• Minimises losses
• Maximises palatability
• Treats grass, wholecrop and maize

Trials
The trial below shows the results of a grass silage trial carried out at Malvern. The Coolsile treated silage lasted a week, after opening the silos, without heating but the untreated control was heating from around 1 day. Generally heat is generated in an open silage clamp by the growth of yeasts. Coolsile inhibits yeast growth, hence silage stays cool.

Dual Action on Grass
Cool sile can be used in combination with Sure Sile Fructan (@1/4 rate) on grass to give the benefits of both products. The Sure Sile Fructan controls fermentation bringing down the pH quickly and saving nutrients. The Coolsile ensures that the silage stays cool during feed-out to maximise animal performance.



Usage
Coolsile is available in 25, 200 and 1000 litre containers.
Use 0.75 litres per tonne for grass or maize
Use 1.0 litres tonne for wholecrop
Coolsile can be applied neat or diluted with water.



Use more Coolsile on areas where heating is likely to be an issue, ie on shoulders, the ramp and on summer fed material

 

[dannewhouse]

any suggestions for a crop to graze over summer? my plan is to direct drill it into glyphos grass stubble in a week - 10 days. and I ideally want to graze it 10 august onwards (this seems to be when my grass keep gets tight)
then do a reseed early September.

grazed by cows and calves <with creep.
I was thinking forage rape but is that best fed with a buffer like silage or straw? ideally this would be a crop to strip graze without anything else.

 

[Great In Grass]

Boost autumn forage supplies | Six reasons to grow Stubble Turnips | Reduce Winter Feed Costs

 

[Great In Grass]

Forage Rape | Fast Growing Catch Crop | Reliable Yields | Winter Hardy

 

[Great In Grass]

Bombardier Kale | New Variety | Dairy | Beef | Lamb | Production

 

[Great In Grass]

PLAN TO GET MAIZE OFF TO A GOOD START

With maize crops soon to be drilled, it will be important to focus on variety choice and efficient establishment to help crops deliver.

Decisions made in the next few weeks will have a big impact on the success of maize crops, according to Tim Richmond, Maize Manager for Limagrain.

“With rebuilding forage stocks high on the list of priorities for many dairy farms, getting the optimum variety of maize off to the best possible start will be especially important,” he says. “An extra 10ha of maize grown as a one-off crop could produce around 450-550 tonnes of additional forage, helping to ensure good stocks through next winter and for 2020 buffer feeding.

“It is possible to drill maize successfully up to the end of May which means there is still time to incorporate a crop into rotations. For example, it could be drilled after an early first cut has been taken to maximise the impact on stocks.”

While many farmers have already ordered their maize seed, he says others will soon have to make the decision and advises variety choice will be particularly important if crops will be late drilled.

Whether selecting maize to drill as soon as possible or later in the spring, Mr. Richmond says it is vital the crop delivers the yield and quality of forage required to support high levels of milk production. The starting point must be selecting a variety suited to the farm and conditions and this means selecting a variety that will mature in the available Ontario Heat Units (OHU).

OHU’s are the internationally recognised system to show if maize can be grown successfully in a particular location. If there are too few heat units, crops will struggle to mature which can lead to a number of problems.

“Varieties differ in the number of OHU’s they require to mature and it is important to choose varieties that will mature within the heat units typically achieved in your area. In general, early varieties require fewer heat units to mature successfully, making them suited to larger parts of the country and ideal for later drilling,” Mr. Richmond continues.

“This will be particularly important with late drilled crops as some of the potential OHU’s will have gone before the crop emerges.”

“We recommend looking for varieties which can be grown comfortably within the average units accumulated because years vary.”

The priority must be a crop that can be harvested on time, so it is better to err on the side of caution than to stretch the point and risk delayed maturity. This will also mean a successor crop can be established more quickly and prevent bare stubbles being over-wintered.



An online tool at www.lgseeds.co.uk/heat-map provides data on heat units by postcode, to help improve the precision of maize variety selection. It shows the 10 years average heat units across the country broken down into 5km blocks, using data collated by the Met Office. Using the online system, farmers can more accurately manage the risk when choosing varieties.

He says varieties including Glory, Activate, Trooper, Prospect, and Emblem are suited to later drilling and will all deliver good yields of high-quality forage, even in a shortened growing season.

Mr. Richmond advises selecting varieties with good early vigour too, saying a strong, vigorous plant will establish quickly the essential root system and leaf canopy, maximising photosynthesis and suppressing weeds.

“The key to a good crop, irrespective of the variety, is ensuring good establishment to exploit the potential for early vigour,” Mr. Richmond comments. “Management must be focussed on achieving good germination and getting the crop away to a strong start. All varieties have a period of around 90-100 days between germination and flowering. It is during this time that the plant puts on all its vegetative growth, so it needs to be as vigorous and healthy as possible.

“Once the plant has flowered, it stops creating vegetative material and solely develops the cob. As the vegetative portion of the plant provides half the energy of the eventual crop, it is important to maximise this growth, especially if the variety has high digestible Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) which means more of this energy will be utilised when fed.

“What you have to avoid is the plant germinating and then sulking because of a poor seedbed or low soil temperatures. All this does is create a period in the crucial phase between germination and flowering when the opportunity for vegetative growth is lost.”

Mr. Richmond advises ensuring fields for maize are not suffering from compaction, explaining that as maize is a deep-rooted plant, any compaction will reduce the plants’ ability to reach water and nutrients which can stress the crop, delaying maturing and reducing yield while also stunting cob size.

He advises leaving final seedbed preparation when the top 5-10cm is worked to a fine tilth, until immediately prior to drilling, to preserve soil moisture.

“While soil moisture is important for germination, with maize, the key measurement is soil temperature. Cold soils are the enemy of a strong establishment. Avoid drilling until soil temperatures have achieved a minimum of 10°C and have been rising for at least four days. This gives a safety buffer in case soil temperatures drop back a bit, which can happen. For heavier soils, waiting for soils to warm up is even more critical. I would advise buying a soil thermometer so you can accurately assess what is happening.”

He says drilling into colder soils just reduces the extent and rate of germination. If in doubt – delay drilling, as the few days apparently lost will soon be recovered if plants get away quicker. Late frosts and heavy rain will both drop soil temperature so keep an eye on the weather and hold back from drilling if a cold or wet spell is forecast.

He advises checking whether seed supplied has been treated with Mesurol. This widely used and effective seed treatment is being phased out this year, so some varieties may be untreated. However, the treated seed will be available from LG Seeds throughout the spring.

“Mesurol is a very effective bird deterrent, so if the seed has not been treated it may be advisable to drill slightly deeper to reduce bird damage. On light soils in warm conditions, it may be possible to go as low as 10cm, but on heavier soil seed will struggle to emerge, so sowing should be to a maximum depth of 7cm. As long as the seedbed is well-prepared and warm enough, this will not impact on germination.

“Drilling early varieties into warm soils will ensure they have the best chance of getting away strongly, maximising vegetative growth and helping ensure a good yield of quality forage to help rebuild stocks,” Mr. Richmond concludes.

 

[Great In Grass]

Champions league, I can't wait!
COMBACK is the buzz word of the day in all football news!

Congratulations to Tottenham Hotspurs FC and Liverpool FC for the achievements these last weeks!

Delivering all the fans could ask for in the semifinal matches, thank you for the thrills!

We cannot wait to see you guys do it again in Madrid.

We expect you will find the DLF grass sward green ready for you June 1st, at the Estadio Metropolitano in the Spanish capital Madrid that will host the final Champions League match.

 

[Great In Grass]

Fantastic field of Hipast, Lofa, Perseus and Red Clover this morning 1th May '19 and it is 3weeks to the day that this crop was cut!

This field is cold, wet, heavy, clay soil that the Festuloliums seem to be proving their persistence!

 

[Great In Grass]

Perfect time to sow Conservation seed mixtures available from Countryside Seeds Ltd

Introducing conservation seed mixtures onto your farm brings many benefits

Introducing conservation seed mixtures onto your farm brings many benefits, as well as providing an excellent source of nectar for bees and butterflies, or winter food for farmland birds.

Countryside stewardship


These crops can be gown within the Countryside Stewardship scheme, or if this doesn’t suit, you can still establish a network of small areas that will contribute to your farm’s diversity.

We have been undertaking some trials at our LG Innovation Site, to evaluate how different crop species grow compatibly together (or not!) and this work will help us formulate improved seed mixtures for the future.

Initial results show that some species can dominate a seed mixture, and therefore a good knowledge of seed numbers and proportions will help maximise crop output and ultimately wildlife benefits.

Limagrain's range of seed mixtures and Countryside Stewardship options include:

• Bee Mixture Prolific flowering, for the AB1 option
• Flower Rich Margin Grass and wildflowers, for the AB8 option
• Pollen & Nectar 4 nectar-rich plants, for the AB1 option
• Jack Russell 1-year herbicide tolerant wild bird seed mixture, for AB9
• Bumblebird Autumn sown for birds and insects, suitable for AB16
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Learn more about Conservation Crops – download your free brochure: lgseeds.co.uk/hibird

 

[Great In Grass]

Plan now for soil health crops
Good planning is key to get the best from your soil health crops this season, says RAGT’s Helen Wilson.

Soil health crops are attracting increasing interest due to their ability to improve soil structure by breaking up compaction, improving drainage and helping raise the organic matter content of the soil.

The sowing window can be quite narrow for crops to establish successfully, so doing the research now can save time and money in the summer when the workload is hectic. Good preparation will also help reap the maximum benefit for your soils.

Step 1 – identify the problem

What is causing a field, or part of it, to underperform? For example, is it compaction, waterlogging or poor fertility? Once you know the cause, it is much easier to select the right cover crop to help cure it.

Step 2 – select the cover crop

• Compaction – Brassicas like oilseed radish and mustard produce deep tap roots that can reach down to 1.5-2m, breaking up soil at depth. Extensive lateral root systems also work the upper soil layer.

• Waterlogging – rye or Japanese oats have fibrous root systems and are good at taking out excess moisture from the soil in troublesome areas.

• Poor fertility – phacelia exhibits strong autumn growth and is really good at mopping up excess nitrogen ready for the following crop. It has a very extensive root system when it is allowed to develop.

Vetches and clovers also help trap N for the next crop provided they are left long enough to do their job. As with all the species above, they also condition the soil.

• Overwintering – will the cover crop be overwintered? If so, does it need to be frost hardy or frost susceptible?

Usually one to three species is enough to do the job. There is no need to over complicate things – this can be costly and there is more chance of inadvertently encouraging pests and diseases that damage a cash crop or using species that become difficult-to-control weeds.

Step 3 - plan field work

• Cover crops going in before a winter crop need to be drilled as early as possible to make the most of soil moisture and warm weather.

• Overwintered covers established in good time will put down better roots and develop a good canopy before going into winter.

• Vetch and clover drilled early will have more time to develop root nodules to maximise N fixing.

Many cover crop species can be successfully direct drilled, but most are still established using some form of cultivation. A good seed-bed is required, but it goes without saying that great care should be taken to minimise moisture loss.

If soils remain very dry and there is little chance of rain, delay sowing until conditions improve.

Nematode control

Cover crops can also be used to tackle nematodes. Mustard, oilseed radish and rocket can be planted as straights or as mixtures, depending on the target nematode population.

As well as controlling numbers by interfering with the life cycle, the cover crop species above also produce a biofumigation effect when macerated and incorporated into the soil.

 

[Great In Grass]

Reseeding offers big ROI
The higher grass yields and quality resulting from regular reseeding translates into more meat or milk, which makes reseeding a no-brainer for any forward thinking business, Aly Balsom reports.

Extract from "FORAGER" Magazine a registered trademark of Germinal Holdings.

 

[Great In Grass]

Utilisation drives performance - Multiple grazing
With many brassica fodder crops, true value is determined not by how much forage is grown, but by how well the crop is utilised by grazing livestock. Luke James reports.

Extract from "FORAGER" Magazine a registered trademark of Germinal Holdings.

 

[Great In Grass]

Silage and Grazing (Conventional) Medium Term Dual Purpose Grass Mixture OFFER.

Silage and Grazing Medium Term Dual Purpose Grass Mixture.

A versatile mixture with a perfect balance of nutritional qualities when cut or grazed.

• Includes varieties that express superior nutritional qualities under both grazing and conservation management, to give an improved animal performance
• High D-value and digestible fibre maximises nutrient availability and increases voluntary intakes
• High energy and sugars fuel milk and meat production
• Includes Ensign Plus White Clover Blend to increase palatability, mineral and protein content

Contains:
58% Tetraploid Perennial Ryegrass
34% Diploid Perennial Ryegrass
8% White Clover

"Silage and Grazing produced 16% more energy than the control mixture in 2017 Limagrain Trials"

Silage and Grazing:

Recommended Retail Price: £75.60/13kg delivered

Countryside Seeds Limited Special Offer Price:

3-74 acres: £64.50/13kg delivered (2-day delivery service).
A NO CLOVER option is available please deduct £2.50 per 13kg bag.

Price Valid Until 30th June 2019
All prices for UK mainland only.
Silage/Grazing price and mixture is STRICTLY SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY AT TIME OF ORDER.

The seed is treated with:

 

[Great In Grass]

Forage Rye, we have access to a very small amount at a competitive price.

• Medium tall population-rye-variety with very high yield potential
• Very good resistance against mildew, brown rust and rhynchosporium
  

Please call or PM for details.

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[Great In Grass]

Specialist leys fuel grass-based system

 

[Great In Grass]

Tackling forage boosts farm productivity - Full ration traceability, lower feed costs and improved overall farm production are just some of the reasons beef farmer Guy Prudom has adopted a forage focused system, as Aly Balsom reports.

 

[Great In Grass]

Barenbrug will be at Scotland’s Beef Event on Thursday 30th May. Go along and see the on stand TB5 tell them Kevin sent you!