United Kingdom
October 12, 2017
A Derbyshire farming family taking part in our Grass into Gold initiative, and exploring the benefits of proactive grassland management, has achieved record results from their first silage cut of the year.
The Shepherd family and team at Birchills Farm near Hassop are taking part in Grass into Gold in a bid to grow more grass. As part of the scheme, Barenbrug’s north of England forage grass expert, Roger Bacon, has helped renovate a number of fields on the farm.
Having achieved a 25% uplift in grass growth in autumn 2016, silage tests conducted on this spring’s first cut show that grass grown on the farm since the start of the year has a very high nutritional value. Figures exceed anything produced at Birchills in the past with feed values recorded as: 12.1 ME; 16% Protein; 6.7 Sugar; and 34.7% DM.
Darren Shepherd said: “It was obvious from its appearance that our first cut of 2017 was going to be good. But the results achieved are far better than we ever expected. With help from Roger and the team at Barenbrug we’ve created the best silage that I’ve ever seen, and it’s even the best silage my dad has ever seen in his farming life.”
Commenting, Roger Bacon said: “The results that Darren and the team have achieved prove that it is possible to significantly improve both grass quantity and quality – with relatively minimal investment. With the basic fundamentals of pH plus P and K nutrients in place, and optimised for grass growing success, the paybacks can be huge. We are delighted that the Shepherd family and their team are seeing such great results and look forward to seeing more figures from future cuts taken on the farm this season.”
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