The British Weather! - What to do about it?

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:14 am

This year, the UK Met Office said there was only a remote possibility that we would suffer yet another wet summer. And here we are, middle of July, still with our last 50 acres to cut and no sign of a break in the rain and the grass losing it's goodness as it stands.

This is starting to make me think about what to do in future years. Maybe different types of grass that finish early, or a mix of different fields, early and late. Or something completely different where the rain is not so much of an issue? Although I was trying to get away from ploughing, I may HAVE to go down the route of ploughing up say 25 acres and seeding with a very high yielding crop-type silage grass; you know the ones you have to reseed each year and produce massive amounts of forage that you can take very early. It isn't exactly sustainable agriculture, which is what we wanted, but my cattle have got to eat and at least it's only a small parcel of land, so it's OK in that respect.

I have already got one field of special grass that dries quickly, so you can cut and bale in a short period. But it is not early grass and is still standing because of the foul weather.

We put this special grass in a few years ago because the general outlook was for very hot summers and it would cope with droughts because it has exceptionally deep roots, which seek out the moisture in our clay soil!!!

Maybe I should have a silage pit but I've never done that and wouldn't know where to start? Can silage be cut and put in a pit when wet?

I don't know what others doing or thinking about this issue?

Edited By Broomcroft on 1247300316

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:38 am

There used to be a system where the effluent was drained away and channelled to the yards for the cows to drink. However I don't know how practical this would be these days and the silage quality wouldn't be too great.

Stephanie

AlisonKirk · Post by **AlisonKirk** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:00 pm

Clive - You should know by now that the Met Office usually predict the opposite. We use the BBC local forecast for our immediate area - even that's wrong sometimes. I have heard that the summer of 2080 is going to be very hot, but unfortunately none of us will be around then to see if it's true!!

It's horrible when they forecast rain and we delay cutting grass on that basis, only to be saying a few days later that we could have got our hay or whatever done. We're just mowing for two hours one day and wrapping it the next night when I come back from work. Not sure how that would work with contractors though? They obviously need to come in, do the job & get onto the next farm.

Regards

Alison

ann lea · Post by **ann lea** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:36 pm

Forget clamp silage unless you are prepared to spend a lot of money on a new clamp with effluent storage - NVZ rules.
No need to plough anything up, unless the ley is worn out. We make big bale silage the third week of May when the grass is at its best quality, wilted for 24 hours. The clover silage is usually at 20% protein.
We do put one field down to Westwold, a quick growing grass but only because we want a grass crop after the Kale crop.
What ever you make, hay or silage, it needs to be made early in the season. Hay and silage made now, even it looks and smells good is of low D value and lower protein.
Ann Lea. Wheeley Moor Dexters

Woodmagic · Post by **Woodmagic** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 3:46 pm

Putting a silage clamp in is expensive, but it provides me with a method of coping with contractors in our unpredictable summers, on a small farm. I confess I go for bulk rather than quality. My cows don’t calve until spring so winter-feed does not need to be high protein, but I do need to ensure I have enough bulk to see me through. I take one late cut usually about now. I don’t want the expense of two.
The clamp eliminates handling and I feed with an electrified barrier, which means the minimum of labour. It simply needs ensuring there is sufficient feeding space over the 24 hours. I only require a couple of dry days, which is reasonably possible even down here in the southwest. I long ago ruled out haymaking using a contractor. The smaller customer always has to wait.
Beryl (Woodmagic)

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:24 pm

Being in the 'sunny south east' we do seem to get less rain than other parts of the UK. I have been able to gather my hay for at least the last 5 years without any rain whilst it was in the swath. Our main problem when making hay is the almost non existant re-growth. I think the biggest part of haymaking is being brave enough to make a start, I do look at the forcast but tend to ignore the 'possibility of the odd shower'. There is no science involved you just get a gut feeling and go with it.
I do apreciate that the last couple of years have been awfull for some as there do seem to be areas where there haven't been more than a couple of good days together. It does normally sort itself out, though forage quality may be an issue for some.
Years ago when I kept sheep I made no hay at all, I just bought in a couple of hundred bales a year for use before ewes where housed at the end of December till March lambing. When housed ewes where fed on sheep rolls and barley sraw. This enabled me to keep more ewes without having to shut pasture up for hay. My point is that you can get by without good quality forage, as long as it is palatable it can be suplimented and you will get by. Most of us tend to overfeed our cows anyway and if they go into winter in really good condition it would not do any harm for them to lose a little, they can soon put that condition on next spring given the right grazing and care.

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:07 am

Most of us tend to overfeed our cows anyway and if they go into winter in really good condition it would not do any harm for them to lose a little, they can soon put that condition on next spring given the right grazing and care.

In my cattle book it states that they are better off losing some condition over winter, but not your finishing stock obviously. Also with youngsters, ones that are not fed to the maximum inside during the winter make compensatory gains when they go out to grass and by the end of the year they will have caught up with, or almost caught up with equivalent calves / youngstock that had been fed well over the winter. So IF the timing is right, from a finance point of view, keeping them in tip top condition is a waste of time.

Edited By Broomcroft on 1247386103

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 6:27 am

Well, here we are weeks later. It has rained almost every day and the forecast is for more and more right into August. We have cut half of what we have but still have another 55 acres to go and it is now lying down wet through. Many people around here haven't cut anything yet at all. And we're the second driest county in the UK!!!