Weed In reseeded grass

[Derrick Hughes]

We’ll stock will eat and tred it in but your Welsh sheep must be different

We have all breeds here and I used to keep 3000 of my own , in 55 years of farming I have never seen stock eat chickweed or dock , must be the grass seed your sowing , like John Wayne said , if a buzzard took a bite of you he would never eat meat again

 

[milkloss]

I’d go with the spray it camp. No stock will touch mouse eared chick weed and even with common chickweed they’ll only eat it by the time they’ve shagged out the new ley.

 

[Bury the Trash]

False seed bed is a good tool, that does require patience and a coolhand mind you.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

You got that seed in @Bury the Trash
Soil temp reading 12.5 c here today so back at it

 

[JMTHORNLEY]

We have all breeds here and I used to keep 3000 of my own , in 55 years of farming I have never seen stock eat chickweed or dock , must be the grass seed your sowing , like John Wayne said , if a buzzard took a bite of you he would never eat meat again

I mean that’s great an all but like most things you say and quote I find it hard to believe as your probably using someone else’s research As for the grass seed I sow that comes from a very reputable company.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I mean that’s great an all but like most things you say and quote I find it hard to believe as your probably using someone else’s research As for the grass seed I sow that comes from a very reputable company.

My sheep I'm afraid
I do all my own research thankyou

 

[som farmer]

My sheep I'm afraid
I do all my own research thankyou

research is a funny thing, my neighbour has always bought his grass seed, from one independent supplier, for years, all backed by research, and always telling me, how good it was, and l didn't put enough N on, till last autumn, when he changed to the same supplier we use, all summer, he has been lamenting how much money, he has wasted, buying grass seed, from that ######################################## and doesn't need anywhere near the amount of N, to get better crops. Every crop performs slightly different, on each farm, and one's own eyes, are sometimes the best research, you can get.
The headline news at the moment, farming wise, is the price of N, £650 this morning, which makes one gulp a bit, but a more targeted approach to using it, is certainly going to happen, and better use of shite, and legumes, is an obvious way to move.
Just how much clover, in a sward, do you need, for a decent grass crop, this pic, is off our 'handy paddock', never had a proper reseed, and any odd grass seed spare, it gets hammered, currently a loafing area for our fresh cows, but a lot of clover, docks etc. How much N, would this be supplying ?

 

[Bury the Trash]

You got that seed in @Bury the Trash
Soil temp reading 12.5 c here today so back at it
View attachment 991460View attachment 991462View attachment 991461

Yes , Derek, as a matter of fact just finished this minute. 2 fields One field of Westers and IR mixed the other just Westers , both with a bitof left over f.rape mixed in just for a laugh.
Lightly harrowed to finish , no roller to finish this time as it was a bit fresh underneath.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Yes , Derek, as a matter of fact just finished this minute. 2 fields One field of Westers and IR mixed the other just Westers , both with a bitof left over f.rape mixed in just for a laugh.
Lightly harrowed to finish , no roller to finish this time as it was a bit fresh underneath.

Funny thing is I chucked some red clover in mine just to see if it comes this late

 

[Spencer]

Sprayed chickweed this afternoon, 0.75 of Minstrel.

 

[Bogweevil]

One of the joys of TFF is that for every question you get at least two vehement opposite answers.

 

[neilo]

research is a funny thing, my neighbour has always bought his grass seed, from one independent supplier, for years, all backed by research, and always telling me, how good it was, and l didn't put enough N on, till last autumn, when he changed to the same supplier we use, all summer, he has been lamenting how much money, he has wasted, buying grass seed, from that ######################################## and doesn't need anywhere near the amount of N, to get better crops. Every crop performs slightly different, on each farm, and one's own eyes, are sometimes the best research, you can get.
The headline news at the moment, farming wise, is the price of N, £650 this morning, which makes one gulp a bit, but a more targeted approach to using it, is certainly going to happen, and better use of shite, and legumes, is an obvious way to move.
Just how much clover, in a sward, do you need, for a decent grass crop, this pic, is off our 'handy paddock', never had a proper reseed, and any odd grass seed spare, it gets hammered, currently a loafing area for our fresh cows, but a lot of clover, docks etc. How much N, would this be supplying ?View attachment 991513

I’ll take a wild stab at 200kg N/ha, on that patch in the photo, which the docks will be loving.
However, clover fixes N for itself, not for enjoyment. Much of that N will be ‘supplied’ to the grass as it dies back when the Autumn cools, when the grass can’t make as much use of it.

I have a similarly ‘clovered’ field where the companion ryegrasses look very hungry through the summer, but get a bit of a boost from now on.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

One of the joys of TFF is that for every question you get at least two vehement opposite answers.

And only one right one

 

[Bogweevil]

And only one right one

I think both/all are right for that farmer's field/soil/stock - there are no simple answers in agriculture, it all depends...

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I think both/all are right for that farmer's field/soil/stock - there are no simple answers in agriculture, it all depends...

Exactly, every field has its own challenges

 

[som farmer]

I’ll take a wild stab at 200kg N/ha, on that patch in the photo, which the docks will be loving.
However, clover fixes N for itself, not for enjoyment. Much of that N will be ‘supplied’ to the grass as it dies back when the Autumn cools, when the grass can’t make as much use of it.

I have a similarly ‘clovered’ field where the companion ryegrasses look very hungry through the summer, but get a bit of a boost from now on.

one hears all the speel, re clover and N 'production', but any field with a lot of clover, that doesn't get it's N fix, doesn't seem to have the same amount of grass, as those that do. Legumes are very obviously going to increase in importance, as bagged N, isn't going to drop back to previous prices, so we need to learn all we can. We have overseeded some older pasture, with balsana clover, as an experiment, it's meant to grow earlier, and fix more N, than white clover. Our two biggest costs, other than the unavoidable, are N and protien, so anything that can actually reduce those, interests me greatly !

 

[milkloss]

Perhaps I've got this wrong but I feel white clover merely increases quality of the sward rather than fix N and help it grow. red clover is another matter entirely and, when mixed with the right varieties of grass, can produce a decent crop with no N inputs. Whilst this is great we have a huge problem with dock control and I think this is an area that companies like @Corteva Technical could step up and help farmers reduce their carbon footprint and assist in preserving the environment .

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Perhaps I've got this wrong but I feel white clover merely increases quality of the sward rather than fix N and help it grow. red clover is another matter entirely and, when mixed with the right varieties of grass, can produce a decent crop with no N inputs. Whilst this is great we have a huge problem with dock control and I think this is an area that companies like @Corteva Technical could step up and help farmers reduce their carbon footprint and assist in preserving the environment .

White clover fixes slightly less than red but still contributes a sizable amount, and is also a fair bit higher in protein than ryegass as you know , we used to graze some pure white clover swards when we had the dairy herd , dad was a white clover fanatic
Clover is also a good indication of how well you farm , as lack of it shows you are doing something wrong , or let's say something missing in the soil , that's if you have sown clover in the first place or you have a seed bank there

 

[som farmer]

White clover fixes slightly less than red but still contributes a sizable amount, and is also a fair bit higher in protein than ryegass as you know , we used to graze some pure white clover swards when we had the dairy herd , dad was a white clover fanatic
Clover is also a good indication of how well you farm , as lack of it shows you are doing something wrong , or let's say something missing in the soil , that's if you have sown clover in the first place or you have a seed bank there

the biggest problem of clovers, and herbs, is weed control, with no spray available, so its back to, r-up, old pasture, grass seed only, spray, then add clover etc.
We are told, legumes will fix N in the soil. But when is that N available to grass, it seems to me, it is not there for early grass growth, which can be (expensively) fixed, with a spring dose of N.
Never been brave enough to graze pure clover stands, but have never had a problem with bloat, so might well move more that way. Your dad was not wrong, being fanatical about w clover, when you look at legumes, they provide protien and N, outside the unavoidable costs, those 2 imputs, are our biggest expense in dairy farming, could well be re-named as a 'super plant'.

 

[ollie989898]

Late resurrection of thread but have an August sown ley that’s got a lot of mouse ear chickweed. Wondering whether to spray or would topping it get rid? Swamping areas out so something needs to happen whilst dry enough..

Get rid of the stuff. If you are anything like around here you don't get half decent frosts any more and the stuff is so low growing a topper won't touch it.

Fudging spray it.