Grass land Management - Farmers Guardian, Clive Gurney - Page 2

It was with the Grass right grass land management group came to the farm to consider how improvement to his grass could be made. Mr Matson assessed each grass field in terms of grass yield and feed quality and identified two grass fields that should be prioritised – one that needed urgent reseeding and one that could be vastly improved by overseeding. Mr Woolway provided a tined Grass Harrow with an Air Seeder that could do both these jobs, which Andrew Gurney undertook.

Bother father and son are happy with the 20-acre grass field that was reseeded in April, especially as the grass had to cope with such extremes of wet and dry weather. Mr Stansfield viewed the grass field in early June and recommended the grass field be sprayed for weeds as soon as possible, as the grass establishment phase is the most cost effective time to deal with both invasive and perennial weeds.

Knowing that the reseeded grass field would have to be treated for weeds Mr Gurney was advised not to plant a grass and clover mix as the clover would not survive being sprayed. He plans to overseed with 30 per cent clover in the coming month, before the grass sward becomes too thick for the clover to establish itself.

Another 20-acre grass field with poor grass coverage was overseeded at one-third rate with occasional flood-damaged bare patches completely reseeded. Andrew said was surprised how easy it was to do this with the OPICO machine, and how accurate he could be.

When he first moved to Herefordshire he identified some of the poorer parts of the farm to take out of production and dedicated nine acres to a wetland area to provide a habitat for waders, such as curlew and grebe, and a feeding ground for peewits.

“We were quite happy to do that because we do need to farm the rest of the farm properly,” he said. “I demand that the business parts of the farm – which is some of the best land in the country – is used productively.”

In order to maintain this balance between high output and environmental care, Mr Gurney has enjoyed working with Mr Denney from Kemira GrowHow ( Grass right ) to make sure the fertiliser he buys is used ‘more efficiently than ever’.

The pair has ensured that muck and slurry are utilised to the full and that the fertiliser applied does not provide more than the grass land needs, especially in terms of phosphate and potash. Abbey Court Farm is close to a waterway and Mr Gurney is very keen not to create any diffuse pollution. “The River Teme is one of the cleanest in the country and we’re determined not to have an effect on that,” he said.

This spring Mr Gurney just applied straight nitrogen to his grass land and was discussing with Mr Denney the possibility of applying NPK at rate of 25:0:13 plus 6 sulphur later in the season.

Mr Gurney soil tests every grass field on his farm every year. He said this is because he has not been at the farm for very long and, before he arrived, the soil was very poor and had a particularly low pH value.

“It is better to do the whole farm every three years than one-third of the farm once a year, which is a common practise,” he said. “Doing the whole farm creates a much greater focus.”

In addition to having regularly updated soil testing statistics, Mr Gurney also keeps detailed records and soil and grass land management plans. He does not see this as an inconvenient part of cross compliance but a vital tool in his grass land management.

To him being able to plan ahead and have a clear management structure is essential, and something he can do with more confidence now he is involved with the Grass right grass land management group.

He said he now has a really positive and enthusiastic attitude towards grass and that having a clear plan means he no longer worries about spending time and money on it because he knows he is being effective and increasing profitability.

“Everybody needs a grass management system,” he said. “There’s no point just going in and ploughing it up because we think that’s what we should do.”

Grass

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