Discuss

[Beef farmer]

Been to a herbal ley meeting today.
The stand out aspect is £309/ha for 5 years.
Spent the afternoon milking running figures through my head,

So....half the cows, half the staff, no fert input so another saving.

Easy milkings with parlours at half capacity.

Once your in mid tier then acsess to grants for hedging and fencing.

Make no mistake the £309/ha coupled with an easier life is what makes it look attractive.

 

[Green Grass]

Just graze some steers all year round n be done with it. Lol
I was hoping to go. What yields have being achieved there. How did they compare to your grass last year.

 

[hendrebc]

@Agrispeed

 

[Scholsey]

A friend of mine has been to a grazing meeting about herbal leys, he is now the agricultural version of a jehovah witness and wont shut up about how great they are! Are herbal leys going to be to the livestock industry what direct drilling is to arable?!?

 

[Beef farmer]

Just graze some steers all year round n be done with it. Lol
I was hoping to go. What yields have being achieved there. How did they compare to your grass last year.

With some slurry to provide the n they seem to do very well, without doubt can stick a mild dry spell, but nowt was going to deal with last year.

 

[Beef farmer]

A friend of mine has been to a grazing meeting about herbal leys, he is now the agricultural version of a jehovah witness and wont shut up about how great they are! Are herbal leys going to be to the livestock industry what direct drilling is to arable?!?

Im adamant 90% of the intrest is bought on by the bribe

 

[Scholsey]

Im adamant 90% of the intrest is bought on by the bribe

He never mentioned the bribe!

 

[DRC]

Depends if you think you’ll ever get paid for them. There’s people still waiting for 2017 stewardship money. Add in more inspections, with any slight misdemeanour holding up BPS, and restrictions on hedge trimming .

 

[Beef farmer]

He never mentioned the bribe!

A pureist then

 

[Beef farmer]

Depends if you think you’ll ever get paid for them. There’s people still waiting for 2017 stewardship money. Add in more inspections, with any slight misdemeanour holding up BPS, and restrictions on hedge trimming .

Youll get paid eventually you hope

 

[Agrispeed]

I didn't go, but the farm owner here did.

Unless the rules have changed they are very prescriptive about when you can graze them, which is why we didn't bother putting it in our mid-tier.

Most of my grazing block and a fair amount of my cutting area is in herbal leys now, and I get on very well with them. They are later to grow, but the growth April-November is phenomenal, and not dissimilar to ryegrass with N applied, but is much more consistent and does better in dry weather too.

 

[Beef farmer]

I didn't go, but the farm owner here did.

Unless the rules have changed they are very prescriptive about when you can graze them, which is why we didn't bother putting it in our mid-tier.

Most of my grazing block and a fair amount of my cutting area is in herbal leys now, and I get on very well with them. They are later to grow, but the growth April-November is phenomenal, and not dissimilar to ryegrass with N applied, but is much more consistent and does better in dry weather too.

You need to shut the gate for 35 days between the 1st may and 1st aug. Thats the only restrictions. So a 40 day round covers that.

 

[Scholsey]

I didn't go, but the farm owner here did.

Unless the rules have changed they are very prescriptive about when you can graze them, which is why we didn't bother putting it in our mid-tier.

Most of my grazing block and a fair amount of my cutting area is in herbal leys now, and I get on very well with them. They are later to grow, but the growth April-November is phenomenal, and not dissimilar to ryegrass with N applied, but is much more consistent and does better in dry weather too.

Oliver seeds put a grass analysis on twitter of a grass ley with chicory and it was 13ME admittedly with low sugars.

 

[Beef farmer]

Oliver seeds put a grass analysis on twitter of a grass ley with chicory and it was 13ME admittedly with low sugars.

The low sugar point was raised today, makes ensiling slightly challenging.

 

[Agrispeed]

Oliver seeds put a grass analysis on twitter of a grass ley with chicory and it was 13ME admittedly with low sugars.

We consistently get 12ME+ analysis and decent protein, but really the only accurate way of sampling is wet chemistry as its not a consistent mix and that is very expensive.

Chicory is amazing stuff, we spec our own mixes now and we keep adding more chicory, and haven't found how much is too much yet. It's quite nice to pick some and have a snack as you move the fence

You need to shut the gate for 35 days between the 1st may and 1st aug. Thats the only restrictions. So a 40 day round covers that.

Guess we might be adding something to our mid-tier next time then...

Herbal leys etc are probably pretty safe bets for funding post 2021 at the moment too, they are getting quite popular with the right people.

Here's some pictures of about 50 days growth in 2017

 

[Beef farmer]

We consistently get 12ME+ analysis and decent protein, but really the only accurate way of sampling is wet chemistry as its not a consistent mix and that is very expensive.

Chicory is amazing stuff, we spec our own mixes now and we keep adding more chicory, and haven't found how much is too much yet. It's quite nice to pick some and have a snack as you move the fence



Guess we might be adding something to our mid-tier next time then...

Herbal leys etc are probably pretty safe bets for funding post 2021 at the moment too, they are getting quite popular with the right people.

Here's some pictures of about 50 days growth in 2017
View attachment 775536 View attachment 775540

What months for 50 days growth? Mob stocking was touched on, that job wont pay the bills

 

[ollie989898]

Oliver seeds put a grass analysis on twitter of a grass ley with chicory and it was 13ME admittedly with low sugars.

ME and sugars is immaterial really in forages- digestibility is critical. It's the same with all potential feed stuffs. Hell yeah look at all this nutrient, great, of utterly no value unless accessible to the animal.

 

[Scholsey]

ME and sugars is immaterial really in forages- digestibility is critical. It's the same with all potential feed stuffs. Hell yeah look at all this nutrient, great, of utterly no value unless accessible to the animal.

From Oliver seeds Twitter feed

 

[Agrispeed]

What months for 50 days growth? Mob stocking was touched on, that job wont pay the bills

Mob stocking is excellent for young stock, but I haven't made it work for dairy cows yet. I do graze covers a bit higher, but with a lot of clover and herbs it suits their growth habit better, if there was more grass in the mix I would probably graze a bit lower. Platemetering is very inaccurate on these though.

I was wrong about the 2nd pic. It was actually the 2nd June last year. Previously grazed 28th April. 35 days!

 

[lazy farmer]

Given your soils and droughtyness it seems a logical.
Would also be looking at Lucerne to graze and ensile if your going to insist on winter milk.