Mid season grazing management presents a challenge. While it’s easy to grow grass in spring, as rotations progress, grass quality diminishes if effort is not put in. Ma...

Wastage in silage making is inevitable – but careful management can reduce losses significantly, resulting in considerable cost savings and markedly improved silage qua...

Adopting a multi-cut silage system, which reduces the interval between silage cuts could be one way to help farmers maximise milk from forage - something nearly all respo...

The terms ‘herbal ley’ and multi-species swards’ are often used synonymously. They typically refer to temporary grasslands made up of a mix of grass, legume and her...

Historically, diverse species swards were the domain of specialist systems. However, the benefits of planting a diverse mix of species make them a valuable resource for m...

Nitrates in forage can reduce milk yields and cause fertility problems, can turn silage butyric and even cause death in stock. This Farming Note covers: How to ens...

The costs of ammonium nitrate and urea have more than doubled in the last year, taking prices to over £500 and £600 per tonne respectively. Optimising fertiliser use sh...

A 15% dock infestation in a good quality sward will typically result in £80/acre of lost milk per year on an organic farm and £120 on a non-organic system. Without acce...

Kingshay's recent Forage Costings Report clearly showed grazed grass to be a very cost effective forage. A good quality grazing sward can produce a litre of milk for abou...

Phosphorus is an essential element for soil, plant and animal health but its high cost and potential as a pollutant makes it essential not to overapply. This Farming Note...