forage situation

[livestock 1]

It’s hard to believe you’re only 30 miles away...we will be silaging next week

Maybe too many sheep but no chance of silaging any time soon here. Although we do hammer the ground with stock

 

[livestock 1]

Needs som heat for the high ground

 

[michael N123]

I took calf’s off sooner this year and kicked 40ish cows back out not long after Christmas onto feed trailers kept the rest 30 ishin until last week because they where using no bedding on cubicles and there easier fed... I still have 70 stores inside tho
My silage fields still have sheep in it’s been a great dry lambing time but we havnt had the heat yet to make the grass grow only bothered with the first covering of fert 2 week ago

 

[Agrivator]

I took calf’s off sooner this year and kicked 40ish cows back out not long after Christmas onto feed trailers kept the rest 30 ishin until last week because they where using no bedding on cubicles and there easier fed... I still have 70 stores inside tho
My silage fields still have sheep in it’s been a great dry lambing time but we havnt had the heat yet to make the grass grow only bothered with the first covering of fert 2 week ago

Brilliant. The only modification I would suggest is that you should apply 60 units of N on your best fields (along with a bit of soluble phosphate if possible) on 21st March, or a soon thereafter as weather allows.

And by the middle of April, your neighbours will no longer regard you as a complete and utter eejet. ( hopefully)

 

[muleman]

I know him too

maybe more worrying....if you know him....do i know you and @livestock 1?!

 

[livestock 1]

Brilliant. The only modification I would suggest is that you should apply 60 units of N on your best fields (along with a bit of soluble phosphate if possible) on 21st March, or a soon thereafter as weather allows.

And by the middle of April, your neighbours will no longer regard you as a complete and utter eejet. ( hopefully)

I applied nitrogen in March for years before I gave up. Too much money wasted in the years it didn’t work

 

[michael N123]

Brilliant. The only modification I would suggest is that you should apply 60 units of N on your best fields (along with a bit of soluble phosphate if possible) on 21st March, or a soon thereafter as weather allows.

And by the middle of April, your neighbours will no longer regard you as a complete and utter eejet. ( hopefully)

Then why are my neighbours cows still in

 

[michael N123]

Everyone has to realise in this thread sheep and cold wind = no grass

 

[ollie989898]

I am usually perplexed at least once a year why some farms are so slow off the ball to get fertiliser and slurry/dirty water out once the forager has been in and done their first cut. Some people are right on it, literally chasing the last trailer out of the gate with the spinner, others seem to leave it three weeks or more? I mean, grass silage is important to virtually anyone, you would think they would pay a contractor to spread fertiliser for the paltry money it costs rather than try to fit it in between jobs and leaving it weeks afterwards.

 

[Nearly]

Everyone has to realise in this thread sheep OR cold wind = no grass

 

[livestock 1]

There’s no point in turning cows out to have to cart silage to them outside especially here as it’s a trail they are fed quicker inside. There’s also no point in turning cows out then having to bring them back in like I nearly had to last week. No good tipping fert on in March to se it wash down the river or not work. Some need to realise where us folk farm. You can only pee with the cock you’ve got as the saying goes

 

[muleman]

Fertilizer is an aid to help grass grow,not a substitute for warmth and sunshine...you soon learn in this job that you have to work with nature,not against it.

 

[sticky]

It's the lack of rain down here, this year now, most years mid season that does for my grass.

 

[Purli R]

There’s no point in turning cows out to have to cart silage to them outside especially here as it’s a trail they are fed quicker inside. There’s also no point in turning cows out then having to bring them back in like I nearly had to last week. No good tipping fert on in March to se it wash down the river or not work. Some need to realise where us folk farm. You can only pee with the cock you’ve got as the saying goes

Fertilizer is an aid to help grass grow,not a substitute for warmth and sunshine...you soon learn in this job that you have to work with nature,not against it.

How the flic some would farm on a hill I just dont know.

 

[Agrivator]

Everyone has to realise in this thread sheep and cold wind = no grass

Sheep, cold wind, buttercups and daisies, lack of lime, phosphate and potash, and no nitrogen in mid March or no good dressing of muck in December = no grass.

And if you think a slight hillside in Cumberland is difficult, you should try farming on the top of the Pennines in upper Swaledale.

Go on. Give it a go next year.

 

[muleman]

Sheep, cold wind, buttercups and daisies, lack of lime, phosphate and potash, and no nitrogen in mid March or no good dressing of muck in December = no grass.

And if you think a slight hillside in Cumberland is difficult, you should try farming on the top of the Pennines in upper Swaledale.

Go on. Give it a go next year.

No doubt they can grow buttercups and daisies in swaledale,but dont sell many sheep per farm....and even less cattle,but still all seem to manage to have a brand new John Deere in the yard....hmmmmmm,interesting

 

[hally]

Upper Swaledale..........I dream about farming in Upper Swaledale.

 

[Purli R]

No doubt they can grow buttercups and daisies in swaledale,but dont sell many sheep per farm....and even less cattle,but still all seem to manage to have a brand new John Deere in the yard....hmmmmmm,interesting

Well, we were always under the impression there was plenty of money in swaledale what with there stewardship payments & Swaledale tup money(thats another thread on its own) but hey ho no,the real source of wealth in swaledale is tourism. Virtually every farm has a caravan site, camp site,Bunk barn,Holiday cottage/s.farming is part time!

 

[Agrivator]

Upper Swaledale..........I dream about farming in Upper Swaledale.

Some folk have nightmares about farming in upper Swaledale. It takes time to get mentally prepared to spread fertiliser on fields with a 45 degree slope. And the future prospect of having to cut and round bale them doesn't bear thinking about.

And then there's the luck money on the tups and daft ewes to find.

 

[digger64]

Makes an extra 100kgs of fertiliser of fert an acre look cheap!

he probably thinks he is getting rich out of an enviro scheme !