Grass sugar levels

pappuller

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
M6 Hard shoulder
:D
What is classified as a high grass sugar % in a fresh sample of grass?

Ive gone some samples before we take 1st cut, mainly to find n levels, but sugars have come back at 7%.

Is 10% achievable?
Thought you were knocking it down yesterday ? 10% wont be achievable if its now mown. Be aware that the longer you wait the reduced digestability will be.:D
 
Sugar is a very usable feed to the cow and fairly easy to manipulate though, Id be aiming for atleast 3% + sugars left in the silage.

Thats grand but saying you are interested in sugars in silage is like saying you eat steak for the 30ml of blood in it.

What are plants made of? Cellulose. What are cellulose molecules built from? Sugar molecules. Lots of sugar molecules.

The squeak of free sugar inside a plant is of little consequence.
 

upnortheast

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Northumberland
How valuable is a sugar % in a fresh grass sample.?
I`m led to beleive it fluctuates widely with time of day and amount of sunshine
Then as suggested above it is diluted in wet grass.
Most important I think is N level in the sample.when aiming for a good fermentation.

Wilting to + 30% DM helps to alleviate problems with high N & low sugars IMO
 
More sugar more muck !
Where there is muck theres money.
How valuable is a sugar % in a fresh grass sample.?
I`m led to beleive it fluctuates widely with time of day and amount of sunshine
Then as suggested above it is diluted in wet grass.
Most important I think is N level in the sample.when aiming for a good fermentation.

Wilting to + 30% DM helps to alleviate problems with high N & low sugars IMO
The test was done to see what N was left, and there is non. But just wondered about 7% sugars as on the scale it comes up very low
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
@Kiwi Pete haven't you used a brix meter a lot. ?
Yeah, I use it all the time. Learnt quite alot in terms of the daily and annual cycle of grass, but it isn't a lab test by any means, just a guide.
FWIW the silage here is about 15-16 brix but grass reading varies wildly even in the space of hours, what may be 6 at 6am could well be 16 by lunchtime/3pm so that's when I aim to feed livestock / mow

Livestock performance tends to back up the belief, anyway, and that's the goal behind it.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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