DairyCo

Get ready for turnout

Published 15 February 10

Get ready for turnout

DairyCo extension officer Piers Badnell, shares best practice to prepare for turnout.

1. Test the soil
   To achieve full potential grass needs a healthy suitable soil to grow in, pH 6-6.5 with P and K indices of two.
2. Look at soil compaction
   Dig into the top 15cm, compaction from stock will be in the top 5cm, machinery from 10 - 15cm.  If the soil is compacted then you reduce yield potential, and it is unlikely to drain properly, also reducing its ability to carry stock.
3. Check for worms
   Worms are a sign of a healthy soil, so throughout the season, every now and again, dig a hole in a cube of earth about 30 x 30cm and check how many healthy and vigorous worms you can see. 
4. Walk the grass early
   This is imperative, even if your cows are not out you should have an idea of what is happening so you can react straight away. 
5. Look closely at the grass
   Grass starts growing at soil temperatures of 5˚C so it will grow most of the year. Look at it now so that you are not turning cows out into really heavy covers.  Grazing a little early is much better than too late which only leads to wastage and subsequently poor quality grass.
6. Use rotational grazing
   This increases the efficiency of the grass roots in capturing moisture and nutrients from the soil, and helps prolong growth through dry periods.  It also allows you to measure the quantity of grass available and so more accurately match supply and demand which increases utilisation, and reduces waste.
7. Graze to 5cm
   This reinvigorates the plant encouraging new tillers and maintaining quality. Without it, dead materials and stalks will build up and reduce quality and palatability. It is not always possible to achieve, so you need to use techniques to regain that 5cm residual.  For example, if you have a poor residual after grazing consider silaging in the next round, or let the grazing ground freshen again for a couple of weeks and then graze hard with heifers.
8. Stay ahead of the game
   Once grass gets away from you it controls you, and you can spend all season playing catch up and not getting the full grazing potential.

To order a copy of DairyCo's grass+ programme call 02476 478695.

Ends

Date 15 February 2010

For further information:

N:        Helen Bond

T:        02476 478696

E:        helen.bond@dairyco.org.uk

Notes for Editors:

DairyCo is a division of the statutory levy board, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

DairyCo's current focus is on improving the profitability of dairy farming by focusing on four specific areas:

• Provision of high quality market information to help farmers and their representatives make the most of dairy markets and opportunities.
• Helping dairy farmers increase their profits while meeting regulatory and environmental requirements - through the provision of world class research programmes and practical on-farm tools and services
• Helping promote the positive perception of dairy farming with the general public.
• The development of DairyCo activities towards a self-sustaining model.

DairyCo is funded entirely by milk producers, via a statutory levy on all milk sold off-farm, at the rate of 0.06p per litre.  This provides an annual income of around £6.5m.