Growing grass seed
- Thread starter ajd132
- Start date
Dunno, I was wondering that. Had Hampshire and Kent(?) in my head but absolutely no idea where I'd heard either of them. Is it a chalk thing then?
ollie989898
Member
I would think steady, reliable rainfall is the main consideration. Lots grown in Denmark and Canada.
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
WHD used to be (at least I think it is no more) a group of seed growers in Wilts, Hants and Dorset and a number of them were grass seed growers. There was a history of grass and clover growing in Kent, with Kent Wild White Clover I think...
Anyway it is more widespread now but tend to be in the Southern half of the country I believe.
Anyway it is more widespread now but tend to be in the Southern half of the country I believe.
looking at a totally new exercise, would be great if you could put someone in touch. many thanks
- Location
- Matching Green
The keenest merchant for new growers is Germinal Seeds, Swinderby. Ask to speak to John Fairey.
I have grown grass seed all my life. If you have a straw walker combine then for a modest area, 20 to 40ha, a conventional header should be sufficient although 10ha a day is a realistic expectation of output. A ventilated floor is an absolute must and I'd say aim for 1m depth absolute maximum and most years expect to have to dig it out and put it back to dry it thoroughly. It tends to crust on the top. The seed wants to be in store with air blowing through it ASAP or it will heat and lose germination and you have worked hard to produce rubbish.
If you are fortunate enough to have use of a stripper remember that the correct/best one to use is the rice build with the fixed drive interchangeable pulleys for maximum power transmission and the rolled edges of the stainless steel fingers trailing to minimise the amount of crop taken into the combine. On our Lexion 760 we have the uprated header drive, 125kW I think, to be sure the rotor doesn't stall.
Establishment wise undersowing in spring barley is the traditional way and works well most of the time although I have heard of a failure in a no-till situation this year. I have tried no-tilling it after WW this year but although I expect to get a crop but I think for reliability and less stress remove the straw. In a tillage situation we Trio, Carrier twice, Cambridge roll, Moore drill and flat roll twice, the second time after the first rain. A flat roll is the best if you have one although Cambridge rolling a number of times at different angles after a rain will suffice while you discover if grass seed growing is for you.
GMs aren't as high as they ought to be at around WW+50% given the risk and effort involved. We can't get the yields out of the modern varieties we used to get even ten years ago. Basically the seed yield trait has been bred out to some degree for both agricultural and amenity varieties because for end uses seed production is undesirable. The other issue is it is a minor crop and whilst there are quite a lot of EAMUs the chemistry is becoming ever more restricted and you aren't going to make a dirty blackgrass field/farm clean by growing grass seed. I'd also recommend employing Herbage Seed Services for agronomy and joining the British Association of Seed Producers.
I have grown grass seed all my life. If you have a straw walker combine then for a modest area, 20 to 40ha, a conventional header should be sufficient although 10ha a day is a realistic expectation of output. A ventilated floor is an absolute must and I'd say aim for 1m depth absolute maximum and most years expect to have to dig it out and put it back to dry it thoroughly. It tends to crust on the top. The seed wants to be in store with air blowing through it ASAP or it will heat and lose germination and you have worked hard to produce rubbish.
If you are fortunate enough to have use of a stripper remember that the correct/best one to use is the rice build with the fixed drive interchangeable pulleys for maximum power transmission and the rolled edges of the stainless steel fingers trailing to minimise the amount of crop taken into the combine. On our Lexion 760 we have the uprated header drive, 125kW I think, to be sure the rotor doesn't stall.
Establishment wise undersowing in spring barley is the traditional way and works well most of the time although I have heard of a failure in a no-till situation this year. I have tried no-tilling it after WW this year but although I expect to get a crop but I think for reliability and less stress remove the straw. In a tillage situation we Trio, Carrier twice, Cambridge roll, Moore drill and flat roll twice, the second time after the first rain. A flat roll is the best if you have one although Cambridge rolling a number of times at different angles after a rain will suffice while you discover if grass seed growing is for you.
GMs aren't as high as they ought to be at around WW+50% given the risk and effort involved. We can't get the yields out of the modern varieties we used to get even ten years ago. Basically the seed yield trait has been bred out to some degree for both agricultural and amenity varieties because for end uses seed production is undesirable. The other issue is it is a minor crop and whilst there are quite a lot of EAMUs the chemistry is becoming ever more restricted and you aren't going to make a dirty blackgrass field/farm clean by growing grass seed. I'd also recommend employing Herbage Seed Services for agronomy and joining the British Association of Seed Producers.
- Location
- East meath/dublin
Any crop is a challenge in the northwest most years . How did it stack up profit wise ?
- Location
- East Yorkshire
When do you harvest the crop June/july?
Just a thought but If anyone has some that's no good germination wise but dry and clean, ibet theres a someone on here who wants something Inert but suitable to mix with small seeds clover or even the likes of Timothy....in the hopper to make it more reliably spreadable iyswim.
Or rather they will do bit later and when its drier and warmer
Or rather they will do bit later and when its drier and warmer
Last edited: