This farm has a wide variety of grass swards; there are fields that haven’t been reseeded in my lifetime managed alongside other fields with young swards containing plenty of clover and modern perennial ryegrasses. Fields that were reseeded during 2015 and 2016 were sown out to varieties that are designed for a longer-term and more extensive plan.

This may well conjure up an image of a farmer who is on top of his game and knows exactly what is best for each and every area on his farm. This would be incorrect, and a more accurate assessment would point to someone that can never quite make his mind up regarding the most suitable mixture for an individual field.

I envy those farmers who know exactly which seed mixtures will work best for a given situation, and especially dairy cow operators, where it’s often a simple choice of any variety that will produce huge yields for a relatively short number of years. My situation is different, and the nature of red meat production (ie limited profitability) tends to require a mixture where long-term persistence is the most important priority. Indeed, the definition of “long-term” in recommended lists doesn’t really tick all the boxes in my situation, because after spending about £200 per acre to reseed a field, I’d like to think it’ll last about 30 years!

Conundrum

Another conundrum when it comes to choice of grass mixture is choosing whose advice to heed. Unlike me, some of my farming friends have absolutely no doubts that certain companies are selling grasses that are “useless”, while other mixtures seem to possess some sort of magical properties.

Again, I wish I shared some of their convictions, because it would make life so much easier than wondering (or assuming) the wrong choice had been made. Equally, it should be pointed out that cast-iron opinions are sometimes completely misleading, and if anyone tells me to use mixture X or Y because it is fantastic, it makes me want to ask a few relevant questions.

What actual varieties are contained within? How does it score for persistence in NI trials? Were these impossible yields of silage recorded over a weighbridge? And conversely, when some company’s blend is written off as being less than useless, it’s always on the tip of my tongue to enquire about a soil analysis prior to reseeding.

Hideous

The best example of this form of agricultural certainty concerns a farmer not so far from here who told everyone he wouldn’t use Barenbrug grasses if he were given them for free.

Indeed, if he mistakenly sowed out a field to these hideous species, he would plough it up again and use some ‘proper grass’.

He then specified the exact company whose grasses he could place his trust in. The trouble with his theory, of course, was that close examination of the stated mixture revealed a predominant reliance on, you’ve guessed it, Barenbrug-bred varieties!

Stubble back to grass

In the middle of the drought in early May, I converted 6 acres of stubble back to grass. Sure enough, I deliberated over choice of mixture, and eventually opted for a grass-clover blend that is mostly comprised of Aber grasses.

In truth, curiosity may have been the main driver, because these Welsh-bred seeds tend to divide opinion like no other. Some say they have poor persistence, many claim their supposed high sugar content makes them special (others claim this is no more than a marketing ploy), while the more open nature (also under dispute) of the sward has put people off too. I checked out the varieties on the label, made sure they were on the recommended NI list of grasses, and went ahead with my decision.

My main requirement is a sward suitable for sheep grazing, possibly some light cattle, and maybe a bit of out-wintering of pregnant ewes (it is fairly likely that a cut of silage might occur too). It is one of my drier fields, so the chance of severe poaching during wet weather is less likely than some heavy areas.

Partly due to the dry soil, and also due to previous success, we drilled the seed using a Lemken/Accord one-pass outfit. The term “one-pass” is a bit misleading, because it was ploughed, power-harrowed, rolled, power-harrowed again, sown, and then rolled twice. I was determined that what small amount of moisture was available would not escape.

Operational costings have been deferred for the meantime: at this stage I prefer to focus on the lovely sward of young grasses, and pretend that all this heavy metal usage won’t amount to too much.

Seed mixture used

Aberavon 5.0kg (late diploid).

Aberbite 2.0kg (late tetraploid).

Aberwolf 3.0kg (intermediate diploid).

Astonenergy 2.0kg (intermediate tetraploid).

5-way clover blend 1.0kg (Buddy, Galway, Iona, Rivendel, Violin).