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]

Barmix is a highly successful, persistent, drought tolerant, high protein sward for beef and sheep production from a clover-based sward. Click here for more info: http://bit.ly/BarMix

 

[Great In Grass]

e3 - Universal Turf For areas that demand excellent aesthetics combined with the ability to withstand high wear. Check it out here http://bit.ly/UniversalTurf

 

[Great In Grass]

Second cut of "BarBumper" a Westerwolds Italian Ryegrass mixture 32 days after the first.

 

[Great In Grass]

‘Eat stems and leaves’ with new kale variety

A new kale variety, Bombardier, introduced to the UK in spring 2018 offers improved digestibility and feed value compared with some older varieties of the crop. Bombardier has a softer and more digestible stem than many others, contributing to higher energy value and better crop utilisation.

A variety bred to improve utilisation of both leaf and stem, Bombardier kale has a digestibility of 72.2% and a dry matter content of 13.5% based on trials carried out by Limagrain UK. It has a relative dry matter yield of 18% above the control variety.

“Marrow stem kales are highly digestible and have better dry matter yields than intermediate and shorter stem varieties,” says Limagrain UK’s forage crop manager Martin Titley. “This makes them suitable forages for beef and dairy cows.

However, poor stem quality has often limited the value and attractiveness of kale as a forage for livestock. “The stem proportion may be 60% to 70% of the total yield,” adds Mr Titley. “Poor stem quality therefore can reduce the utilisation of the crop and its feed value.

“In the past, farmers have faced a bit of a dilemma when it comes to kale. If the kale crop is grazed well, then crop utilisation is good but the poor feed value in the stem will limit liveweight gain. A less well-grazed crop, where a proportion of the stem is left, will achieve better liveweight gains but poorer crop utilisation.

“Bombardier, that offers more digestible stems with added feed value and utilisation potential, can overcome this dilemma.”

Trials in New Zealand have shown that Bombardier has a high ME for the whole plant of 12.6 MJ per kg DM. But, more importantly, the ME at the bottom of the stem is 12.1MJ per kg DM; considerable higher than many other varieties.

Bombardier can be grazed or cut and zero grazed. It is expected to produce between 70 tonnes to 80 tonnes of fresh yield per hectare and between nine and 11 tonnes per hectare of dry matter.

It is best drilled in May or early June at a seed rate of 5kg per hectare. Bombardier is club root resistant and the seed can be supplied Cruiser treated for Flea beetle protection.

“The great benefit of a kale crop is its flexibility,” says Mr Titley. “It can be used any time from September to February, so it is ideal for outwintering production systems and it is a popular choice for dairy young stock, beef cattle and sheep. The added value of Bombardier will make many growers re-consider this valuable crop.”

 

[Great In Grass]

Limagrain introduces its new rape/kale hybrid variety, Unicorn

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]

Protect big bales against bird, animal and wind damage.

 

[Great In Grass]

Redstart & Swift Hybrid Brassicas offer low cost quality feed solution

Sowing hybrid brassicas in July or August will produce quality forage crops of 5–7 tonnes per hectare in 10–12 weeks at a cost of just 4–5p/kgDM, according to Germinal GB.

Whether used as a break crop between grassland leys, a short term solution to forage shortfalls or an out–wintering fodder, varieties including Swift and Redstart hybrid brassica offer a low–cost quality forage option.

“These crops are quick to establish and will produce good quantities of forage of over 70 D–value and 15–18% crude protein,” said Germinal GB’s Ben Wixey, speaking during tours at the Livestock Event Forage Field.

“Old pastures destined for re–seeding next spring or fields that have been badly poached over recent weeks could be ideal sites for growing a catch crop of hybrid brassicas.

“There is still ample time to spray off an old sward and establish a crop of Redstart or Swift hybrid brassica capable of producing valuable high quality fodder before the end of the autumn. Similar results can be achieved by direct drilling hybrid brassicas into cereal stubbles.

“Stock strip–grazed on brassicas should be supplemented with baled silage or straw that offers a good source of roughage, as well as a run–back area and easy access to water.”

Call us or PM now for prices.

 

[Great In Grass]

Barenbrug UK are Gold sponsors at this years Royal Welsh Grassland Event on June 6th 2019 at Cardeeth Farm, Pembrokeshire, go along and meet some of the people who bring you top quality grass mixtures.

 

[Great In Grass]

Swede Gowrie - Uniform roots for pre or post utilisation. Please contact for prices.

Gowrie is a variety bred in Scotland and can be utilised pre or post-Christmas.

It can produce high dry matter yields and exhibits good resistance to both clubroot and powdery mildew.

Strengths

• High dry matter yields
• Club root resistant
• Powdery mildew resistant
• Dual purpose
• Frost tolerant

 

[Great In Grass]

Swede Invitation - Later use with excellent winter hardiness. Please contact for prices.

Invitation is a very uniform, clubroot resistant variety, ideal for utilisation after Christmas.

It also has excellent resistance to powdery mildew and will produce large leaves for extra grazing potential. Invitation is winter hardy and is suitable for sheep or cattle.

Strengths

• Winter hardy
• Clubroot resistant
• Powdery mildew resistant
• Flexible utilisation period
• Large leaves for extra grazing

 

[Great In Grass]

Swede Lomond - A fantasic variety combining high yields and disease reistance. Please contact for prices.

High fresh and dry yields make this variety ideal for finishing lambs post Christmas.

Lomond has both powdery mildew and clubroot resistance and trials show it suffers less from rots and splits in its root.

Strengths

• High dry matter yields
• Club root resistant
• Powdery mildew resistant
• Winter hardy
• Flexible utilisation period

 

[Great In Grass]

In UK field trials by Germinal UK, Triumph swede leaves showed significant CP value (25 – 35%) & additional DM yield of 2 – 4tDM/ha.

 

[Great In Grass]

Did you know that some grasses give more milk?
A high digestibility of grass enables the cow to have a higher feed intake which again can result in up to 0,25 l more milk per cow per day.

There is money in finding the right grass mixture, where you can reap a high yield of digestible grass. Our DLF Fiber Energy logo is a stamp we give to all of our forage varieties that have high digestibility.

With high digestibility comes a number of benefits. More milk in the tank equals a higher profit to the farmer, but the climate also profits from the high digestibility. The higher the digestibility, the less methane the cow produces.

Understanding digestibility
If we want to understand what affects digestibility of grass, we must go to the cellular level and see how the grass plant cells are built. A plant cell may be divided into cell content and cell wall:

• All of the cell content have a high digestibility close to 100%,
• The cell wall consist of β-glucanes, pectines, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.
• Pectines and β-glucanes have a high digestibility (100%)
• Digestibility of lignin is 0%
• The digestibility of cellulose and hemicellulose varies and thus determines the overall digestibility of the grass plant

The digestibility of grass depends, among other factors, on cutting time, weather and fertilization, but we have also seen a difference between grass varieties, when they are compared under the same growing conditions.

 

[Great In Grass]

A high digestibility grass provides a higher feed intake, more milk in the tank and at the same time you can save on expensive purchased feed supplement.

Livestock Consultant Niels Martin Nielsen, Agro Limfjord in Denmark, has calculated what it means for milk yield and the balance per cow when feeding grass with respectively 72% and 80% digestibility of organic matter.

A high digestibility of organic matter in grass enables the cows to have a higher feed intake which again results in more milk and reduced costs for bought-in concentrate.

The table shows what the impact is on milk yield and the margin per cow per day when feeding with grass where the DOM is 72% and 80% resp. The milk price used is €0.25 per kg ECM and the production price of grass and maize is resp. €0.20 and €0.17 per kg DM.

By increasing the DOM in grass with 8%-points, the milk yield is increased with 0.8 kg ECM per cow per day, when the grass – as in this case – is around 25% of the total feed ratio.

Conclusion: Replacing poor grass silage with some having 8 %-units higher digestibility increases milk yield with 0.8 kg and farmer’s income with €0.4 per cow per day.

Overall, good pasture quality gives more milk in the tank and saves you purchase of supplementary feed. In other words: There is money in finding the right grass mixture, where you can reap a high yield of digestible grass.

DLF varieties with high digestibility of the cell walls is a good starting point for this - look for the Fiber Energy, this is your guarantee for sound and sustainable varieties.

 

[Great In Grass]

More Milk with Fiber Energy varieties from DLF

High digestibility equals a higher feed intake.
In order to achieve high feed intake, organic matter digestibility of pure grass should be between 78 and 81%.

If there is between 30 and 50% clover in the clovergrass mixture, we need "only" 76-80% digestibility of the organic matter as clover passes more rapidly through the rumen. For this reason you will be able to reach a much higher level of forage quality just by adding clover into your grass mixture.

If we want to understand what affects organic digestibility of grass, we must go to the cellular level and see how the grass plant cells are built.

A plant cell may be divided into cell content and cell wall:

The content of the cell consists mainly of protein, crude fat, starch and sugars, all of which have a constant and high digestibility close to 100%, see table below.

This means that the cell content in general has a constant and high digestibility.

n the cell wall, which consists of β-glucanes, pectines, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, it is quite different.

Pectines and β-glucanes have a high digestibility (100%), while the digestibility of lignin is 0%. The digestibility of cellulose and hemicellulose varies, which means that the digestibility of these components in practice are determent for the overall digestibility of grass.

Hemicellulose and cellulose together with lignin is what we often refer to as the cell wall (Neutral detergent fiber). Summed up, a high digestibility of NDF is synonym with a high digestibility of organic matter. The content of NDF can be determined by lab analysis which is important as digestibility of NDF is calculated from the content of NDF.
More Milk with fiber Energy varieties from DLF

The digestibility of cellulose and hemicellulose depends, among other factors, on cutting time, weather and fertilisation, but we have also seen a difference between grass varieties, when they are compared under the same growing conditions.

We test all varieties for feeding quality, and those showing to be high above average concerning digestibility of NDF are marked with our cell wall logo.

 

[Great In Grass]

DLF's Fiber Energy Varieties


Perennial ryegrass, diploid
ABOSAN 1 (intermediate)
CALVANO 1 (intermediate)
ELYRIA (intermediate)
INDIANA (intermediate)
MASSIMO (intermediate)
NIFTY (intermediate)
SOLOMON (intermediate)
SPUTNIK (intermediate)

Perennial ryegrass, tetraploid
JARAN (early)

BESSER (intermediate)
CARRAIGH (intermediate)
DIWAN 1 (intermediate)
GARBOR (intermediate)
VIFELT (Intermediate)

Perennial ryegrass, diploid
BOVINI (Late)
CAVENDISH (Late)
CANCAN (Late)
HUMBI 1 (Late)
ROMARK (Late)
SMILE (Late)
SAQUI (Late)
KERRY (Late)

Perennial ryegrass, tetraploid
FLOVA (Late)
MELBOLT (Late)
POLIM (Late)
PORTIQUE (Late)
TWYMAX (Late)
XENON (Late)
NOVELLO (Late)

Hybrid ryegrass
STORM (intermediate)
TETRATOP (intermediate)
Tall fescue
SWEETY

Tall Fescue PLUS
FOJTAN (Festulolium, PLUS - Tall Fescue)
HIPAST (festulolium, PLUS - Tall Fescue)

Ryegrass PLUS
REBAB (festulolium, PLUS - Ryegrass)
HELUS (festulolium PLUS - Ryegrass)

 

[Great In Grass]

New grass Dundrod joins family of Recommended List varieties from Barenbrug
Diploid perennial ryegrass Dundrod has become the 29th current variety from the Barenbrug breeding programme to be recommended on a UK list.

Diploid perennial ryegrass Dundrod has become the 29th current variety from the Barenbrug breeding programme to be recommended on a UK list. Dundrod will feature in both the RCGL 2019/20 for England and Wales, and the SRUC Grass and Clover Varieties List for Scotland 2019/20.

Dundrod originates from the AFBI programme in Northern Ireland and is the 45th UK-bred variety to be recommended on England and Wales, and Scottish lists, since AFBI’s partnership with Barenbrug commenced in 1991. Other varieties arising from the collaboration have also been recommended in other countries.

With a heading date of 2nd June, Dundrod is classified as a late heading variety. It has a very good 1st cut yield of 107% of control and an overall average cutting yield equal to control. Under grazing management, the total yield is 102% with strong performance from early summer onwards - as you would expect from a later variety. Dundrod’s other strengths are an excellent ground cover and winter hardiness score, and a crown rust resistance score of 7.7. Dundrod will be available in Barforage mixtures in the next few years.

As well as including Dundrod, the new editions of the Recommended lists have elevated Intermediate Diploid, Moira, and Intermediate Tetraploid, Fintona, from provisional varieties to fully recommended varieties. Moira performs well under both silage and grazing management, combining good crown rust resistance with a heading date of 24th May. Fintona remains the highest yielding perennial ryegrass available with a high cutting and grazing yields throughout the year. It has a very good 1st silage cut yield and a heading date of 20th May.

Separately, the 2019 reseeding season sees Barenbrug add two excellent new varieties to its Barforage Mixtures for UK farmers: Gosford, an intermediate diploid showing high quality silage and grazing with impressive early and late season yields; and Ballintoy, a late tetraploid with high yields and quality under both silage and grazing. Both varieties are the results of AFBI and Barenbrug’s UK breeding programme - with all seed grown on British farms. These varieties join other proven varieties such as Moyola, Glenariff, Seagoe, Glenarm, Clanrye and Dundrum.

Mhairi Dawson, Barenbrug Research and Development Manager, said: “It’s exciting to have yet another new grass in our portfolio of Recommended varieties but I am equally proud of the fact that this grass was bred and produced in the UK. It’s great that we can have such a local emphasis to our work, while having the backing of an international research and development programme through the Royal Barenbrug Group. We have some tremendous varieties coming to market in the next few years and I have seen lots more promising breeding material, which will come through during the next decade.”

Pictured left to right: Dr Gillian Young, Grass Breeder at AFBI, and Mhairi Dawson, Barenbrug R&D Manager

 

[Great In Grass]

If you are visiting the highland sheep event on the 12th June be sure to visit Barenbrug on Stand 14.

 

[Great In Grass]

New grass varieties which were on display at the recent Royal Welsh Grassland event.

 

[An Gof]

New grass varieties which were on display at the recent Royal Welsh Grassland event.

You OK @Great In Grass ? I’ve missed your excellent photo coverage of Royal Cornwall Show this year. Only managed to make it along today and have had a great day. Not sorry I missed the inclement weather of yesterday.