Cover Crop Grazing Charges

[ajd132]

Do people charge when having someone graze cover crops, or perhaps pay for the seed? Or is it considered a mutually beneficial agreement and no money changes hands?

 

[warksfarmer]

Do people charge when having someone graze cover crops, or perhaps pay for the seed? Or is it considered a mutually beneficial agreement and no money changes hands?

Surely if you've planted the seed then anybody taking it for grazing should look at is the same as grass, except its a 'one off' and not a year round thing?

Good grazing is £150/acre with water and fenced so thats £12.50/month.

Put some sheep on it for a month and £12.50/acre?

But don't you want the organic matter in the soil and not removed?

 

[ajd132]

I know absolutely nothing about livestock hence asking the question, I do have some good friends desperate for grazing who keep sheep on the grass parts of an estate we comtract farm so it would be good to be able to work together.

 

[Dan Powell]

50 pence per sheep per week is a good place to start depending on the size of the sheep, demand for grazing and supply of grazing in your area. That would be a typical rate for turnips in Shropshire anyway.

Re: organic matter take off. They only eat above ground and a lot of that comes back out as organic fertilizer.

 

[Beef farmer]

For lambs, 30p per week, regards to the organic matter surly sheep turning that green leaf into dung is as good as just ploughing it under.

 

[H.Jackson]

Grazed covers @ 50p/head week sounds right grazing seems to improve the effect, something to do with the plants reaction in the root to being eaten. Plus when dd this must reduce the two Simons effect. Another bonus is slugs don't like the dung had to pellet this spring where we topped but didn't graze. Not woried about drilling through the crust anymore so long as the soils warm enough.

 

[Old John]

Our graziers pay for the seed, the drilling, any fertilizer, sprays and spraying. We charge contract rates for drilling, spreading and spraying.

 

[dontknowanything]

I wish we could get 50p!

 

[Brisel]

Grazed covers @ 50p/head week sounds right grazing seems to improve the effect, something to do with the plants reaction in the root to being eaten. Plus when dd this must reduce the two Simons effect. Another bonus is slugs don't like the dung had to pellet this spring where we topped but didn't graze. Not woried about drilling through the crust anymore so long as the soils warm enough.

The cost of a crop of stubble turnips here is around £70/acre. That's DD into winter barley stubbles with a Rapid drill, 2 graminicides, the first of which includes a pyrethroid. 75 kg/ha N plus seed. It's a great cleaning crop - I have taken fields out of the rotation for turnips & the grazing has cleaned them up a treat. The hooves will damage the surface but must kill slug eggs & seedling weeds too. I have always ploughed afterwards as surface compaction is quite bad, especially if using feeders to supplement with silage/straw. Sheep will be better than cattle for your soil structure.

 

[Banana Bar]

You will need to be grazing in September or March onwards on our ground Adam

 

[S J H]

Surely if you've planted the seed then anybody taking it for grazing should look at is the same as grass, except its a 'one off' and not a year round thing?

Good grazing is £150/acre with water and fenced so thats £12.50/month.

Put some sheep on it for a month and £12.50/acre?

But don't you want the organic matter in the soil and not removed?

Grazing isn't worth £150 in most places. Your sounding like a land agent.

 

[Simon Chiles]

Grazing isn't worth £150 in most places. Your sounding like a land agent.

....or someone who wants to rent some land out and is talking up the price.

 

[SilliamWhale]

For lambs, 30p per week, regards to the organic matter surly sheep turning that green leaf into dung is as good as just ploughing it under.

What does ploughing it under do? God made a lovely little system using air and sun to allow plants to build good soil conditions to plants and then farmers want to turn it upside down!

 

[Beef farmer]

Don't preach to me pal, haven't used our plough in 7 years. Nice 2001 lemken 5f if any one is interested. wish I could go more direct drill but powers that be, aka arable division of the family, like driving tractors to much. Ha.