Hitting the grass 23

[som farmer]

That's sand as deep as you want, the ground won't hold or build any fertility, so no, 40 units of N and some slurry isn't excessive at all. 10 ton fresh 1st cut draws a lot of nutrition and needs replacing on hungry ground

you really have to feed that sandy soil, lots of it around here, its hungry.

our new organic neighbour, after ridiculing the suggestion it was hungry ground, just might learn this year, good crop for 2 years, on slurry only, crap this spring, despite lots of slurry.

we can pile as much slurry as you want on it, just eats it up, and asks for more. And the fecking stuff dries out quickly.

 

[Beef farmer]

2 units per day of rest in optimal conditions is the absolute maximum. 50 units for a second cut is standard practice for many around here. Another 30 units or so for a third cut would be considered fair, too.

But as you say, you might be able to get away with a whole lot less, depending on how well you know your land and how much fertility it has.

Folk should be wary of robbing land of potash with repeated heavy cuts if no potash is being put back but in reality a lot of farms will have a K index of 3+ anyway so it's unlikely.

Weather dependent, our 3rd is heavier than 2nd cut, as you don't have a 2 week lag while the ground greens up.

 

[frederick]

'N cycle deficit'? I'm afraid you've lost me.

Was always told 2 units/day was the limit in optimum conditions.

I don't know anyone around here who would really be pushing the boat out with the nitrogen rates you are suggesting here to be honest, it's an expensive business and there will definitely be some nitrogen in the ground becoming available as the soil warms up- it must be there or else people wouldn't have grass worth even looking at despite the fact a portion of farmers didn't manage to get much on the first time around. Some folk haven't really been able to put any slurry out until now.

If you put 100 units on for first cut even though the grass may take up 100 units not all of it will be from the 100 you added. You feed the soil the soil feeds the plant.
Several decent crops have been cut with minimal N applied the N removed by those crops needs replacing in the soil cycle.
As you say as it warms up the soil will give it back and that's why later in the year you don't need to apply so much N to get the growth. But if you don't give it back now you will have to return it at some point in the year.

 

[FarmerWasty]

Weather dependent, our 3rd is heavier than 2nd cut, as you don't have a 2 week lag while the ground greens up.

That just means you're scalping it when you shouldn't be. Cut it it higher 7/7.5cm

 

[The Agrarian]

That's sand as deep as you want, the ground won't hold or build any fertility, so no, 40 units of N and some slurry isn't excessive at all. 10 ton fresh 1st cut draws a lot of nutrition and needs replacing on hungry ground

Ok fair enough. Completely different ground then to here. I wouldn't know in practice what it's like to feed sandy ground, although I did briefly learn at Uni that the nutrients don't bind the same. It all various grades of silts and clays around here, with small patches of peat. I've trimmed N over the years so that second cut will get about 27 units (a bag of CAN) and 2000gl of slurry/acre. Growing season is also different. We can't put up ten ton fresh of grass by mid to late April. We would usually be cutting 7-8 at the beginning of May.

 

[yoki]

That's sand as deep as you want, the ground won't hold or build any fertility, so no, 40 units of N and some slurry isn't excessive at all. 10 ton fresh 1st cut draws a lot of nutrition and needs replacing on hungry ground

Link land?

 

[som farmer]

Weather dependent, our 3rd is heavier than 2nd cut, as you don't have a 2 week lag while the ground greens up.

our 2nd cut tends to be light, just right for hay, if the weather plays ball. If it doesn't, and we have lots of rain, decent cut for silage. Our production matches rain fall, low = low crops, and vice versus.

 

[Beef farmer]

Link land?

?

 

[yoki]

?

It looks like link land, or "linksland" to be geographically correct.

And I was going to say it wouldn't look out of place with a golf course on it, but zooming in on the picture I think there is one beyond the fence line?

 

[Beef farmer]

It looks like link land, or "linksland" to be geographically correct.

And I was going to say it wouldn't look out of place with a golf course on it, but zooming in on the picture I think there is one beyond the fence line?

Yeah, one each side of us. No shortage of golf balls!

 

[Gerbert]

Glorious

 

[Mr Mackay]

Glorious

I'd have nightmares about those banks !! What a lovely Fiat crawler that is !

 

[Jdunn55]

Whoops

Happy as larry once again now though

 

[frederick]

Whoops
View attachment 1179197
Happy as larry once again now though
View attachment 1179198

Wow you've had more rain than us.
If possible square breaks will result in less damage than long thin breaks.

 

[Jdunn55]

Wow you've had more rain than us.
If possible square breaks will result in less damage than long thin breaks.

It's been horrendous since Saturday lunchtime, hasn't stopped at all and has been really heavy for most of that. The wind has been brutal.

Almost insufferable really.

Stopped at last this lunchtime thank god.

Interesting regarding square breaks, why is that do you know?

I think they poached this one particularly badly because they were pacing up and down in the rain miserable. Felt awful for them but have to remember they're made of leather and wooly coats

 

[frederick]

It's been horrendous since Saturday lunchtime, hasn't stopped at all and has been really heavy for most of that. The wind has been brutal.

Almost insufferable really.

Stopped at last this lunchtime thank god.

Interesting regarding square breaks, why is that do you know?

I think they poached this one particularly badly because they were pacing up and down in the rain miserable. Felt awful for them but have to remember they're made of leather and wooly coats

Exactly as you say. They just pace up and down a long break. In a square break they tend to stand more. They might trash a smaller area worse but overall it averages out better.

 

[HasthorpeGrange]

Whoops
View attachment 1179197
Happy as larry once again now though
View attachment 1179198

I think we’ve all had one or two of these this spring

 

[holywell farmer]

Glorious

No protection from stones if 1 was to coming flying out of the mower!

 

[Gerbert]

No protection from stones if 1 was to coming flying out of the mower!

The one has, the other one isn't spinning.

 

[Milkcow365]