Sean Roche’s dairy farm is an example of how regular reseeding coupled with a high-quality grass mixture form the cornerstone of a successful milking system on a grass-based diet.
Located in Castlerickard, Co. Meath, Sean runs a spring-calving, 155-dairy herd with his sons, Eamon and Jim.
A new entrant to dairy farming in 2018, the farm then consisted of old, permanent pastures. Over the last three years, the Roches focused on regular reseeding and good grassland management to ensure maximum output.
Originally, the Roches were using predominately diploid mixtures.
However, working closely with local Agritech sales advisor, Brian Flynn, they moved to Tipperary Grass mixtures with higher inclusions of tetraploids three years ago.
The value of reseeding
“Since moving into dairy farming, reseeding is a no-brainer for us. There is no doubt that new grass is far superior in the shoulders of the year when I need it most,” Sean said.
Alongside improving soil fertility and investing in good grazing infrastructure, reseeding is essential to maximise output from the grazing platform, be it for milk or meat production.
Agritech’s head of ruminant nutrition, Maeve Regan explained: “From an economic perspective, old and underperforming swards are costing dairy farmers €300/ha in loss of dry matter (DM) production during the growing season.
“Reseeding should be viewed as a long-term farm investment over eight to 10 years, with the aim to reseed 10% of the farm annually.
“Having grass available for grazing during the important shoulders of the year must be a key priority for farmers.
“Spring grass has a value of €0.16/kg DM versus summer grass valued at €0.04/kg DM, with autumn grass valued at €0.11/kg DM.”
Choosing a grass-seed mixture
Modern grass-seed mixtures need to achieve a combination of higher production, digestibility, palatability and persistency in the reseeded sward.
These are the key characteristics which serve to give farmers the highest return possible from their investment, with increased animal performance being the ultimate aim.
“Your grass-seed mixture must fit the system it is intended for,” Maeve said.
“Soil type and climate will influence your choice; however, is it going to be used for grazing, silage or perhaps a dual-purpose sward?”
Tetraploids versus diploids
In more recent years, tetraploids have become key components of modern grass-seed mixtures, having proven to be more palatable to livestock and drought tolerant.
They have a higher leaf availability and accommodate clover quite well.
Diploids, on the other hand, have historically been known to have good sward density and groundcover; however, more recently there has been an emergence of new tetraploid varieties that hold some of these key traits.
“The new highly rated tetraploid variety, Nashota, does exactly this as it delivers all the benefits of a tetraploid and is ranked higher than leading diploids for groundcover,” Maeve said.
“Agritech has pioneered the inclusion of high levels of tetraploids in its Tipperary Grass seed mixtures since 1977 and, with varieties like Nashota now available, we can take this a step further.”
Sean added: “Moving to higher inclusions of tetraploids has worked very well for us.
“The grass is very palatable, we have better cleanouts and we have more grass available when we need it most.”
Agritech’s top varieties for reseeding
Nashota, AberPlentiful, AberBite and Callan are some of the top varieties available from the 2021 Tipperary Grass seed range.
All Tipperary Grass seed mixtures are treated with a unique GroQuik seed stimulant, to further enhance germination rates and crop lifetime production.
GroQuik is particularly beneficial for the germination of clover, which is an added benefit.
For further advice on spring reseeding or to choose a suitable grass-seed mixture, contact your local Agritech sales advisor or click here
