On the dairy pages this week, the livestock team describe various drainage, reseeding and soil fertility case studies showing how individual dairy farmers are investing in growing and using more grass. The cost is substantial, so investment needs to be staged and planned. On development dairy farms, there is a substantial cost for parlours and buildings, so young and new entrant farmers need to be crystal clear in what direction they want their business to develop.

Maximising the ability of owned land to grow more grass must take priority and in most cases will be money better spent than short-term renting of unproductive land 10 miles away that you can’t manage or invest in for the long term.

Additionally, on pages 46 to 48, Darren Carty and Nathan Tuffy describe how the best commercial suckler and sheep farmers are setting up the basic paddock infrastructure to allow them grow and use more grass.

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The message is clear: irrespective of what livestock enterprise, growing more grass, while costly to establish, needs to be managed properly. Reseeding alone is only half the battle and without going the extra step and investing in terms of a farm roadway or fencing, often you will not be able to exploit the benefits of better grasses.