Herbal ley seed

[Tim G]

Looking to establish a field as a herbal ley. Cotswold Seeds seem to be the most 'marketed', are they good mixes or are others better?

 

[Great In Grass]

They are good mixtures but there may be better prices.

 

[Tim G]

They are good mixtures but there may be better prices.

Well, yes that was kind of what I was getting at.......

 

[Derrick Hughes]

If you you want to buy off busy Hurrells Seeds have 7 mixers going Flatt out in the Summer and putting more in .[emoji23]

 

[Great In Grass]

And very smart they look too!

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Dad started in 58 with a,shovel in the corner of the shed [emoji23]
Until Dyfed seeds at Carmarthen offered to mix it for him

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Looking to establish a field as a herbal ley. Cotswold Seeds seem to be the most 'marketed', are they good mixes or are others better?

The main thing being that you make it clear what you want and expect from the Herbal Ley , cutting, grazing,soil type,stocking rate, and stock type, so the mix can be moulded to suit your needs, a small area of herbal ley on a large stock farm is not ideal as stock need , time to adjust to the new diet , so an on off system going back to grass is not ideal , better to rotational graze a smaller amount of stock on the herbal ley ,that way they don't get sudden changes in diet

 

[Kevtherev]

Looking to establish a field as a herbal ley. Cotswold Seeds seem to be the most 'marketed', are they good mixes or are others better?

They are very good mixes and a good company but can be more expensive than others.

 

[sheepdogtrail]

I just looked at Cotswold Seed web site. The ley pre mixes are expensive. The formulations are fine.

By chance can you get the seeds standalone or get grass in a mix and add the legumes and herbs separate? It could be cheaper. I know for me, I make all my mixes, I can purchase all the seeds and custom blend them. At most I am doing 10 acres at a time or about 160 lbs. and it cost me about 6 gbp to get the seed/lb. But I do buy in bulk.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I just looked at Cotswold Seed web site. The ley pre mixes are expensive. The formulations are fine.

By chance can you get the seeds standalone or get grass in a mix and add the legumes and herbs separate? It could be cheaper. I know for me, I make all my mixes, I can purchase all the seeds and custom blend them. At most I am doing 10 acres at a time or about 160 lbs. and it cost me about 6 gbp to get the seed/lb. But I do buy in bulk.

We charge nothing for blending so happy to sell as straights or blended . Most of our standard mixes are adapted
Dad used to blend his own mixes as far back as the 60ts with a shovel in the corner of the shed. But he saved nothing to be honest , he just got the mixing plant to mix it for him in the end

 

[Barleycorn]

Ian Wilkinson of Cotswold has been promoting alternatives to standard ryegrass leys for many years and does a lot of public speaking and research, even with his own farm. I think Cotswold leys are well planned with quality ingredients and he is a good ambassador for the industry. Quite frankly if they are £10 out an acre on a ley that will be in the ground 5 years they are welcome to it.

 

[daithi]

The main thing being that you make it clear what you want and expect from the Herbal Ley , cutting, grazing,soil type,stocking rate, and stock type, so the mix can be moulded to suit your needs, a small area of herbal ley on a large stock farm is not ideal as stock need , time to adjust to the new diet , so an on off system going back to grass is not ideal , better to rotational graze a smaller amount of stock on the herbal ley ,that way they don't get sudden changes in diet

I am considering putting in a herbal ley after silage this summer, but this is what I have been wondering. If you only have one field of herbal ley would it be like when you put lambs onto rape, it takes them a time to adjust and then when you move them back onto grass would they stall again or would I be as well of just putting in something like Barmix with maybe a bit of extra clover

 

[Kevtherev]

Just put barmix in off @Great In Grass

 

[Al R]

I am considering putting in a herbal ley after silage this summer, but this is what I have been wondering. If you only have one field of herbal ley would it be like when you put lambs onto rape, it takes them a time to adjust and then when you move them back onto grass would they stall again or would I be as well of just putting in something like Barmix with maybe a bit of extra clover

Germinal made a mix up for me Very good and knowledgeable company to deal with
mix of IRG/RC/WC/Plantain and Chicory. Like their Lamb Finishing seed mix but I wanted a bit of Grass in there for ground cover and root mass for holding land together, hoping to get it in tomorrow!

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I am considering putting in a herbal ley after silage this summer, but this is what I have been wondering. If you only have one field of herbal ley would it be like when you put lambs onto rape, it takes them a time to adjust and then when you move them back onto grass would they stall again or would I be as well of just putting in something like Barmix with maybe a bit of extra clover

I have a bag of clovers plantain and chicory in the office , mix a few kg in with the leys when I drill , I did think of putting a full Herbal ley in but management would be difficult on the system I'm on , this way it don't cost a lot , I cant see lambs doing on Cocksfoot and Fescue, but may be wrong
Im confident that the intensive Ryegrass leys I sow will do what I ask of them

 

[daithi]

I have a bag of clovers plantain and chicory in the office , mix a few kg in with the leys when I drill , I did think of putting a full Herbal ley in but management would be difficult on the system I'm on , this way it don't cost a lot , I cant see lambs doing on Cocksfoot and Fescue, but may be wrong
Im confident that the intensive Ryegrass leys I sow will do what I ask of them

I have a field of Barmix that I was very impressed with this cold wet spring. it kept growing when the others had stopped.
Would chicory and plantain survive in colder high rainfall environments ?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I have a field of Barmix that I was very impressed with this cold wet spring. it kept growing when the others had stopped.
Would chicory and plantain survive in colder high rainfall environments ?

Would depend on the management and I don't know where you are , we have Cool Season mixes that grow all winter but we may be milder I don't know, on the wetter land I use an Endurance mix that are all late heading grasses with timothy that will stand some punishment, I know from experience on my own farm I have to choose the right mix for the field involved , if you don't know your land that's when problems start ,

 

[neilo]

I am considering putting in a herbal ley after silage this summer, but this is what I have been wondering. If you only have one field of herbal ley would it be like when you put lambs onto rape, it takes them a time to adjust and then when you move them back onto grass would they stall again or would I be as well of just putting in something like Barmix with maybe a bit of extra clover

I’ve found a ryegrass/brassica mix avoids that check, presumably as the grass in the ration makes the diet change less abrupt. I would expect the grass in herbal leys to do similar. Weed control and reduced output would be my biggest concern tbh.

Adding extra clovers to a PRG mixture would likely provide as good a ration, whilst keeping more management flexibility. It is noticeable that a lot of the guys advocating the fashionable herbal leys are on light land and/or in areas of the country that don’t get enough rainfall to keep ryegrass productive. A simple PRG/clover mix is near unbeatable in wetter regions imo, and so much more forgiving.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

To follow what Neilo said ,if I know a field has weed problems then I sow straight ryegrass sort term if it's bad then sort the weeds out after and add clover and herbs after that

 

[E_B]

Got a herbal ley to put into an IRG ley that was reseeded last year after cultivation, and had poor establishment during last wet Autumn. Light land but poorly drained and holds water in winter.

Field has a history of wireworm/leather jackets. I want to avoid cultivation again for this purpose, plus I would rather not terminate the IRG that did establish, after just one year. Field has just had its first cut off. Flat rolled the field in the spring to try and consolidate the surface.

Bit of a head scratcher. Have an Erth Agriseeder which I plan on using after second cut in probably mid August to sow the herbal ley, hopefully the IRG will have slowed down enough to let the new seedlings through the thin sward.

Or could spray it off if we have to. I don't want to waste the seed.

Also have a Mzuri but the rows are 33cm with low disturbance points on, plus it would loosen up the ground to make life easier for the soil pests.

New to over seeding so don't really know what's possible.