ollie989898
Member
I'd sooner not sell anything than sell someone the wrong thing. Do that and you will never hear the end of it.
Grass seed
- Thread starter Sam myers
- Start date
I'd sooner not sell anything than sell someone the wrong thing. Do that and you will never hear the end of it.
- Location
- Ceredigion
Yes totally agree
- Location
- Cornwall.
- Location
- Cornwall.
Thanks for the recommendation.
- Location
- somerset
we are heavily stocked, on/off rotational grazing, fert regular, indicies correct, fussy about seed bed, spend time choosing leys that should be good for the field they go in, cant really do much more than that, if we dry out, it's really dry. But, to go from 14 lb/acre, to 14 kg+, is one hell of a jump, 250% increase +. We reseed as often as we need to, to often in the last 3 years, so if we are putting more seed in the ground, why are we not getting the same results ? Perhaps it's the loss of those research farms, that have 'allowed' things to slip. I'm opened minded, all i want to know, is why the big difference in seed rate ? That would equate to under half your commission, or, half the money being spent on grass seed !
- Location
- somerset
my 1 grass neighbour, 18kg/acre, for the same reason as us. Fully accept climate, soil type, and use (dairy) will affect how grass reacts, i'm not questioning that at all, persistence here is probably weather related in the last few years, and we are focussing on grass types that with stand drought now, rather than straight rye grass. It's what has occurred to make the recommended seed rate increase, by a huge amount. There has to be a reason. AGM is a most persistent weed grass, perhaps research should have been done on that 50 yrs ago !
- Location
- Ceredigion
I think your figures may be a bit out . Having thought back a long way . Dad put long term Perennial. S23 and Melle types in a 20lbs acre and Hybryds and Italians . @30 1bs acre
- Location
- Ceredigion
Few Names you may remember
Sabrina Augusta, Sabalan , RVP , S24 , S23 , Wild White Clover, Mella. All famous Grasses and Clovers of the past , sorry if the spelling is s bit off
Sabrina Augusta, Sabalan , RVP , S24 , S23 , Wild White Clover, Mella. All famous Grasses and Clovers of the past , sorry if the spelling is s bit off
- Location
- somerset
sabalan was a great grass, as a student combined, and cleaned acres of it., and s23.
the 10 to 14 lbs/acre, come straight out of 'freams elements of ag' 15 th edition, so can only assume they are correct, but highly unlikely to be wrong. I'm not knocking reseeding itself, it's why we have gone from 10 to 14lbs/acre, to 14 kg/acre +, it seems wrong for that 250% increase, without a very good reason. If there is a reason, fine, tell me, it wont effect my reseeding plans, nor price per acre, where the extra £10-15 acre, for 'best' leys, is cheap, spread over 4/5 yrs.
- Location
- Ceredigion
For one thing if you were sowing at that past rate it was far to low. We had an intensive dairy farm at the time and practiced spring reseeding. We could not mess about , we wanted fields to tiller up fast so we could get stock on so seed rates were not far of they are now and we also took our leed from a nearby research farm being Trawscoed EHF, who were doing the same at the time
Tha Ulsterscot
Member
- Location
- Greyabbey Co. Down.
- Location
- somerset
so, you were doing then, what we are doing now, upping seed rates, from recommended rates, but still lower than todays, about 13 kg for IRG, and 9kg for PRG, if at 30lb and 20lb. I'm not knocking anybody, just looking for answers, your figs tie in with rec seed rates, 1995. But there is a big difference, and i would like an answer, i know it's not going to alter what happens now, just why.
- Location
- Ceredigion
I don't know where you get your seed rates from but most if ours are 14 kg don't do many at 13 kg and I see Germinal are doing some long term at 15 kg now
Its costs around £4-50 to put on an extra kg . Thats good value in my book .
One thing I have noticed mind . few are cutting seed rate a little. Seed is up in price a little this year so make sure you don't get cought
- Location
- somerset
came straight from your post, perrenials 20lb, and italian 30lb, which if i have pressed the correct buttons on my calculator, equate to 9kg and 13kg. And i never stint on price or quantity on grass seeds, completely pointless.
All i want to know, is why the big difference, in recommended amounts.
Most of my farming life an acre of grass was the same price as a fat lamb, so I’m happy to charge £130 for an acre of seed
No one is forcing you to sow at 14kg, if you think half that is enough why not have a go then report back
ollie989898
Member
You can sow at 12kg, 14kg or 15, 16 or 18 if you want. I would tend to go higher where the bigger seeded varieties are being used. The difference between some varieties is staggering which means different numbers of seeds per kilo sown. Some are also much larger plants. Much work has ben done on the required standards of plants per m2 but I won't bore you with the details.
It's not that different from cereals.
It's not that different from cereals.
- Location
- somerset
i sow at 16/18kg, all i want to know, is why have recommended seed rates gone up by 250%, since 1970.No one is forcing you to sow at 14kg, if you think half that is enough why not have a go then report back
Jonny_2
Member
For cutting you want a mix with fairly close heading dates so the grasses in the mixture are at a similar stage when you decide to cut. Tetraploid ryegrass would give more yield however diploids have a lower water content so easier to get a better wilt for hay. They also grow at different heights so a bit of diploid in a predominantly tetraploid mix adds to yield. If you want the ley to be down for 5 plus years then you want perennials, 3/4 years hybrid ryegrass and 2 years Italians. Timothy would be a good inclusion in hay as its really palatable but wouldn't bother with it unless you want to graze. White clover would fix some nitrogen if managed correctly and increase the protein of the crop. Large leaf is best for cutting, maybe some medium too if you wanted to graze aftermath with cattle. Clover adds to the seed cost though and needs careful establishment and management to get something back from it. Massively limits your herbicide options with clover.
Wouldn't bother overseeding unless there is lots of bare ground and you have sheep to keep old grass down whilst new grass establishes. 14kg per acre seems to be the industry standard with seed supplied in 1 acre packs. Check when getting quotes for seed though as some companies are 12kg packs. If you are from Yorkshire then can't recommend seed from Jameson's enough.