DLF

[DLF]

DLF SEEDS & SCIENCE

DLF Seeds are the World’s largest grass and clover breeders, operating the largest commercial grass seed breeding and testing facilities in the UK & Ireland. DLF’s staff are committed to achieving the very best results for you the end user. We employ over 120 highly skilled staff at various sites located throughout the UK and in excess of 2000 staff worldwide. DLF have issued their strong commitment to UK agriculture with the opening in 2014 of their innovative bespoke mixing and packing facility achieving unparalleled levels of performance in the mixing and dispatching of forage grass mixtures for all of our valued customers.

Customer satisfaction

Technical support and training is offered to our customers on a daily basis (Distributors or Seed Merchants). Whether this be on training days, farm visits, trade shows or open days or at our research facticity in Gloucestershire. Here we are constantly measuring and assessing our customer’s mixtures for performance to ensure you get the very best results from your grass leys.

DLF also have a strong local presence employing staff in key locations throughout the UK to ensure that technical support it always available to achieve an exceptional result for their customers.

Through the investment in product, people and technology the organisation defends its position as global market leaders




Links

Website - https://www.dlf.co.uk/

 

[Angie @ DLF]

Seeds and Science

DLF have been committed to developing new varieties of grass in the UK for 40 years in both forage and amenity since setting up our R & D station in the Cotswolds in 1976. The facility has gone from strength to strength over this period of time, being at the cutting edge of technology as well as a centre of excellence for the trialling and evaluation of grasses for the UK.

We were the first to introduce self-propelled harvesting machines into the UK for measuring yield of the forage trials to enable us to test more varieties, as previously forage grass was all cut and weighed by hand.

 

[jackrussell101]

Good morning. We are a dairy farm growing grass and wheat, what would you recommend to be a high yielding rotation to grow in between the wheat, hybrid or italian? Our rotation would be 2 years wheat then 2/3 years grass... thanks in advance

 

[Angie @ DLF]

Good morning. We are a dairy farm growing grass and wheat, what would you recommend to be a high yielding rotation to grow in between the wheat, hybrid or italian? Our rotation would be 2 years wheat then 2/3 years grass... thanks in advance

Morning Jack,
Thank you so much for popping by!

We would recommend..

• Perseus Festulolium [Ryegrass plus] sown out at 14/15kgs per acre suitable for cutting only.
• Annual high dry matter yields in the region of 22.5 tonnes per Hectare
• High disease resistance
• Amazing stress tolerance under drought or flood due to the deep rooting structure - so will help with all soil structures. Extracting nutrients unavailable to other grass species.
• Perseus similar to a hybrid will yield for a full three years
• Perseus is a cross with Fescue and Italian Ryegrass
  
  Your usual grass seed supplier should be familiar with Festulolim and particularly our variety Perseus. We did a field comparison last year and you can see the variety had good regrowth in such a stressful year.
  
  
  
  

 

[Angie @ DLF]

Increase stress tolerance and enhance yield potential with Ryegrass PLUSTM by DLF seeds

Ryegrass PLUS varieties are from a hybrid species known as festulolium which are created by crossing fescue and ryegrass.

The objective of this hybrid breeding is to create high yielding grass varieties with high forage quality, good persistence, stress tolerance and disease resistance. Yield increases of 10-50% are common when varieties of Ryegrass PLUS are tested in trials.

We asked 4 farmers one in the UK, one in Denmark, one in CZ and one in Hungary why they choose Ryegrass PLUS

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[Angie @ DLF]

Optimise livestock production with DLF Fiber EnergyTM

Extract more energy from grass and reduce production costs.

Water, nutrients and light are used by grasses for growth in the creation of cells. The cell content is fully digestible and accounts for around one-third of the energy available from the grass. The balance of the energy is held within the cell wall which contains both digestible and indigestible components. Modern breeding techniques at DLF enable the selection of varieties that contain higher levels of cell wall digestibility. This is known as DLF Fiber Energy™ which is capable of releasing higher levels of energy that can be utilised by the rumen. Our breeding programme has already given us several varieties that exhibit these traits and these are included in mixtures under the title DLF Fiber Energy™ .

DLF FIBER ENERGY™ grasses can also give you a wider window of opportunity when it comes to harvesting. Including FIBER ENERGY™ varieties in your swards can mean that even where the harvest is delayed the degree of lignification is reduced and the digestibility of the resulting silage is maintained at a higher level.

• Trials show up to 6% difference in cell wall digestibility between listed varieties
• Improved cell wall digestibility leads to a healthy rumen and efficient use of forage
• 1% increase in cell wall digestibility = 1/4 litre more milk/cow/day

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[Angie @ DLF]

Grass mixtures Questions?

Is there anything you would like to ask about grass varieties and their selections for mixtures?

How to get the best out of your grass mixtures?

What options do you have for winter forage?

We have Mark Simes and Michael Mulgrew - Technical Business managers here this afternoon at the Virtual grasslands show. Pop us a question!

 

[Angie @ DLF]

Specialist seeds at DLF

Environmental, Green Manure, Game Cover and Forage Seed

We're not just about grass at DLF. We supply a range of other feed and commercial crops that support farm profitability. Many of these crops are complementary. They help farmers supply the varied nutritional needs of their herds and flocks and earn profits from a range of income streams.

Click on the image of our catalogue to see the full range of seed, advice on sowing, crop management and more!


Other Cropping Options: find your solution here






Speak to your local DLF seed merchant for more information about the Your countryside range!

 

[Angie @ DLF]

Overseeding pays off
Open swards yield too little

Overseeding using the correct mixtures and machinery designed for the job is now accepted as good practice to both maintain the physical and nutritional quality of medium and long term swards.

When the sward becomes open allowing weeds and unsown species to invade overseeding will quickly check this and maintain the productivity by increasing both yield and quality.

Typically after 3 years of production, a leys productivity falls so the loss of 2 tonnes dry matter per hectare at 11mJ/kg equates to 18000mJ/Ha of energy. In order to replace this lost forage production with concentrate would cost roughly £145 per acre. An overseeding mix and application typically cost less than half this. A 200% return for overseeding in the first year!

Overseeding a sward with the correct mixture will help maintain the swards optimum production.

Overseeding Top Tips

• Assess the field for weeds and grass species content
• Use an overseeding mixture suitable for the sward you are improving
• Timing is essential. After the last cut or hard grazing in the late summer or autumn is best
• Consider using ProNitro® treated seed as an option
• Scarify pre-drilling to remove thatch. This lets in sunlight, improves soil contact and reduces
• competition for the new seedlings
• Use the correct drilling method. For younger open swards a scarifying rake is adequate. For denser swards a disc drill is essential
• Cross drilling can improve ground cover
• Roll after drilling for good seed to soil contact. Use a Cambridge roller if possible Be aware of Frit fly and Leatherjacket attack (consult your agronomist)
• Stock can continue to graze up to seedling emergence as this will reduce competition from existing grasses but stock must then be removed

Result – more yield, better quality, improved output