Some timely advice from Duncan Rose, Chief Technical Officer for Carrs Billington.

Forage Alert – Points to consider now !

1. Forage stocks are at an all time low

a. Prepare an annual forage budget with a view to fill any short fall short to mid term rather than at the last minute at higher prices

b. Consider ways to increase grass yields

i. Establish the extent of soil panning and the benefit of soil lifting / slitting

ii. Soil sample to establish current nutrient and pH status

iii. Get fertiliser on now

iv. Walk fields to establish plant cover and consider overseeding to fill the gaps. Opportunity for westerwold ryegrass overseeding?

2. Grass is just starting to green up in some parts and where fertiliser has already been applied grass growth is going to suddenly take off causing a luxury uptake of nitrogen increasing the risk of grass staggers. There is a far greater risk this year because livestock will be more reliant on grazed grass due to depleted silage / hay stocks and the drive to cut supplementary feed inputs.

NB Do not forget about the dangers of the luxury uptake of potassium, which inhibits magnesium availability, i.e. no added potash at this time of year on grazing land

3. Grass tends to head at a similar time each year driven by species, geography and day length so with anything from a 2 to 6 week loss of grass growth ( depending on geography ) it is highly likely first cut yields will be down. Cutting late will increase yields but reduce digestibility and reduce 2nd cut yields so it may be still wise to cut at a similar time

4. With a shorter growing period and later fertiliser application there is an increased risk of high nitrate levels being present at time of cutting so pre cut analysis should be considered and use of an effective silage additive not overlooked in an effort to cut costs short term