There might be a better chance of some spring reseeding this year compared to this time last year when there was very little grass or silage on most Irish farms. Hopefully, if the weather continues to improve, it will allow paddocks to green up and be open for spraying off.

With increasing stock numbers on farms, growing more grass should be top of your agenda and a specific plan around soil fertility should also be part of that agenda.

There is little point in reseeding and getting the variety right in one paddock if the rest of your paddocks are not growing due to a lack of lime, phosphorus or potassium.

When reseeding, you do of course need to utilise the extra grass grown – not much point fertilising and growing it if you don’t have the stock to graze it. You grow more better quality grass which can save on meal and fertilizer costs or give higher yield, hence reducing cost of forage.

Peter Varley completed a price survey for us this year and you can buy a bag of grass seed with good varieties from €65 to €70 per one acre bag; price is down slightly on last year. However, I still see some co-ops charging €75 per bag. Check the weight in the bag because some are only putting in 11kg per bag.

For the first time, the Department of Agriculture has released results of frequent cutting trials as well as the general purpose cutting trials. The frequent cutting aims to replicate grazing better. Cuts are taken at lighter covers eight to 10 times per year. It will be interesting to see how varieties react as more information is collected.

Full content of this week's Focus supplement:

Five new varieties on 2014 grass and clover recommended list - read more here

Soil fertility - the basics you need to know when reseeding - read more here

Digging up truths on soil and grass - read more here

Options for reseeding – what the contractors from around the country say - read more here

The how and why of grass seed production - Read more here