The good weather over the last couple of weeks will have seen most, if not all, farmers move to harvest their first cut silage.
But as soon as the pit is covered or the bales are brought in and dust has settled, the focus quickly moves to get the grass growing for the second cut.
The problem for most is – how do you get the crop going without spreading fertiliser and slurry?
The dry weather means that spreading chemical nitrogen (N) is a waste as it will only sit on the surface and not be used by the plants.
If rain was then to come, the question arises as to whether or not the fertiliser would be used by the soil or would it be washed away and wasted?
Feed budget
When farmers are closing up area for second cut, they should first complete a feed budget of what is already present on the farm.
Once that has been established and what is expected to be harvested in second cut has been forecast, you should be able to determine if you will have enough silage.
You should also be able to make some high-quality bales from paddocks that have gone too strong.
You should target to have an excess of silage on the farm, with most eating into their supply over the last housed period and into spring.
Silage
Shortly after first cut has been harvested, farmers will get preparation for second cut silage underway.
Usually this starts by getting slurry and chemical N out on the paddocks of fields where silage has been harvested and will be harvested for second cut.
The worry for many is that if slurry was spread on land now, it would just sit there and crush on the top of the grass or possibly burn it if it had a high N content.
But if you have a low dry matter (DM), watery-type slurry that is being spread using low emission slurry spreading (LESS) – there shouldn’t be an issue.
For now, chemical fertiliser should not be spread as that would only sit on the top of the soil and if rain was to come, would likely be washed away rather than being washed in.
Spreading the slurry will contribute a portion of the N requirement, then the remaining N requirement can be topped up when rain arrives.
The rate of chemical N required will be based off the potential yield of the crop and N content of the slurry.
The table above outlines the top requirement for growing a second cut crop, but contribution of the slurry should be considered by applying chemical fertiliser.
Ideally you will have tested your slurry to determine the nutrient value, and chemical fertiliser can then be adjusted.