Focus on weeds & soil nutrients, while dry weather thwarts reseeding.

Through May and June as the first cuts of silage are taken, you should be assessing your yields and forage quality – assess which fields are poor producers and therefore candidates for reseeding later in the year. Take a walk through your swards straight after first cut, before grass starts to re-grow, as this is when gaps in grass coverage show up the best.

Also look at how effective your weed control programme has been – the combination of dry weather and cold nights may have lessened the long-term efficacy of herbicides and repeat applications may need scheduling for later in the season.

Reseeding

So either wait for rainfall or a certain forecast of rain before seeding, or leave it until late July or August.

However, in this dry weather, there is one opportunity - overseeding straight after first cut. It’s the ideal time as there will still be moisture in the soil as it has been sheltered from wind and sun by the grass you have just cut. Plus the field will probably be closed up to stock for a few weeks so any overseeded grass will have a good chance to get established.  

As for reseeding, only do this when there is sufficient moisture in the seedbed. After ploughing, ensure you cultivate the seedbed and achieve a good fine tilth as this will help soil to seed contact and germination in dry conditions - in the wet you can get away with poorer seedbeds than in the dry.

Once seed is sown then roll, roll and roll again. Consolidation presses the soil particles together with the seed and encourages water to move towards the seed by capillary action and helps germination and early growth. It is best to roll at least once before seeding and then roll up to twice afterwards. A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to ride a bicycle over the seedbed before seeding. Even when just overseeding, still roll at least once afterwards.

The Monarch range of ley mixtures are formulated to meet different requirements, ask your local Monarch distributor for specific advice on which seed mixture is best suited to your needs.

Getting the grass right for 2^nd cut

After first cut, further fertiliser to boost second cut yields will be needed over the next few weeks.

Sulphur is important for both the second and subsequent cuts of silage. The addition of sulphur in the granular compound form will increase yield by about 10% lift true proteins by about 1% and sugars by 5%.

Improving the protein levels in silage from 12-15% will certainly save money (£18/cow over winter) – yet over the last decade, protein levels in silage have dropped.

The two most likely reasons for this are: large yields of silage dilute protein in the grass, and secondly that more slurry is applied to maize these days and less to grass. To counter this, apply more sulphur-containing fertilisers after first cut - this will improve the efficiency of nitrogen uptake and therefore safeguard protein levels.  Then take into account the nitrogen from any slurry applied to ensure that enough N is applied to the crop.

To boost sulphur levels, spread Kemira GrowHow Kayenne Sulphur 25.0.13 + 7SO₃, or where phosphate levels are index 2 or below, use Multicut Sulphur 23.4.13 +7SO₃.

Sulphur is also important to grazing. SingleTop 27N 0.P 0.K 12. SO3 should be applied at two bags per acre between grazings mid-summer. Apply two doses to obtain the right level of sulphur for the season.

The window between first and second cuts is the best time to treat perennial weeds because it evens up weed growth stages.

Cutting for silage will have removed all the old damaged leaves, leaving soft new regrowth, ideal for treatment. The warm and moist conditions, normally encountered at this time of year, will also help herbicides perform to their best as weeds will be actively growing. Treating the weeds at the correct growth stage is vital to achieving a good job with any herbicide. Forefront* is a new product ideally suited for this time of year - it is translocated down into the roots, is rainfast in just one hour, and has a short cutting and grazing interval of only seven days.

But be mindful where reseeding is to follow – check your herbicide label to find the minimum period required between spraying and reseeding. This is important if you are looking to stitch-in clover.

*Forefront contains aminopyralid and fluroxypyr, and is a registered trademark of Dow Agrosciences LLC.