There has been a lot of ploughing and reseeding taking place on farms, with farmers taking advantage of excellent ground conditions.
Reseeded swards will far outperform old pasture in production and quality, but the job needs to be carried out correctly.
Reseeding is a costly investment (€270/ac to €300/ac) and cutting corners won’t achieve a successful outcome. In most cases, it is best to spray off with a glyphosate product to kill any dominant weeds and old grasses.
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Sow late-heading varieties and use the Teagasc Pasture Profit Index (PPI) to pick your varieties and aim for the top of the list. Avoid too much tetraploids in heavy ground. Apply 2.5 bags of 10:10:20/acre at sowing time and 2t lime/acre depending on soil pH. You are aiming to get soil pH above 6.0.
The seedbed should be rolled to create a firm bed. A post-emergence spray is extremely important and this is the best time to kill any seedling docks. Take care not to let the weeds get too strong before spraying.
Remember that modern ryegrasses are bred for high nitrogen application, so it’s very important that you feed the new sward in the first years or the new grass will die out and your hard work and investment will be lost.
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There has been a lot of ploughing and reseeding taking place on farms, with farmers taking advantage of excellent ground conditions.
Reseeded swards will far outperform old pasture in production and quality, but the job needs to be carried out correctly.
Reseeding is a costly investment (€270/ac to €300/ac) and cutting corners won’t achieve a successful outcome. In most cases, it is best to spray off with a glyphosate product to kill any dominant weeds and old grasses.
Sow late-heading varieties and use the Teagasc Pasture Profit Index (PPI) to pick your varieties and aim for the top of the list. Avoid too much tetraploids in heavy ground. Apply 2.5 bags of 10:10:20/acre at sowing time and 2t lime/acre depending on soil pH. You are aiming to get soil pH above 6.0.
The seedbed should be rolled to create a firm bed. A post-emergence spray is extremely important and this is the best time to kill any seedling docks. Take care not to let the weeds get too strong before spraying.
Remember that modern ryegrasses are bred for high nitrogen application, so it’s very important that you feed the new sward in the first years or the new grass will die out and your hard work and investment will be lost.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
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