GrassCheck Podcast
GrassCheck Podcast
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This week we are joined by David Patterson from AFBI to discuss the latest information from the GrassCheck plots and farms. Robert Patterson from CAFRE, Andrew Dale a dairy farmer from Limavady and John & William Egerton who are Beef & Farmers from Rosslea, County Fermanagh.
Topics discussed include managing the spring surge in growth, first cut silage, stitching in clover and reseeding.
Grazing Management and Grass Quality
Jason RankinHello , I'm Jason Rankin and welcome to the GrassCheck podcast brought to you by AgriSearch . We are bringing you the latest information , insights and opinion to improve grazing management on your farm . This week we are joined by David Patterson from AFBI , Robert Patterson from CAFRE , Andrew Dale , a dairy farmer from Limavady , and John and William Egerton , beef and sheep farmers from Rosslea in County Fermanagh . David , Robert , Andrew , John and William many thanks for joining us . David . In the last two weeks we've had warmer and slightly drier conditions . Has growth responded to these kinder conditions ?
David PattersonYes , to some extent Growth rates over this last couple of weeks , in fairness , have been below average .
David PattersonSo I think we're still transitioning out of that previously poor period of weather , which I think is mostly down to the soil condition and that it was heavily saturated on a lot of farms in most of the counties around Northern Ireland . But I suppose the good news is that , despite modest below average growth rates over this last couple of weeks , the forecast for the next seven days at least is to zoom away off , uh , off the scale , um , way above the 10 year seasonal average to about 100 . So with every plus there's a minus . And unfortunately the forecast for cooler temperatures , which is the critical thing for growth in the seven days beyond that , well into next week , is for cooler conditions and unfortunately back down to 50 to 60 kilograms of growth . But the caveat on that trying to stay positive here , um for this the seven-day forecast is always more reliable because it's hugely hinged onto the met office predictions and it can only get better than that 50 to 60 predicted figure for the following seven days .
Jason RankinIn terms of grass quality . Obviously the growth is picking up . We seem to have a mixed bag in terms of grass quality , improving in some areas but concerns in others . Don't you want to outline what we've kind of seen in grass quality so far this year ?
David PattersonOkay , yeah , concerns is the key word there . I have been looking across all of the graphs this last day or so on plot growths , different sites and the on farms data right around the province . And yeah , um me is more or less where we'd expect it to be . Metabolizable energy in the grass it's's hovering in around 11.5 on most of the sites and most of the plots and that's good news . The dry matter is slightly lower than expected for this time of year . The water-soluble carbohydrates , the sugars in the grasses , they are on an upward trajectory right now but they are a couple of percentage points lower than where I would expect them to be at this point of early to mid-May . But and here's the slightly not good news crude protein is a good 3% to 4% lower than it should be for this stage of the season and you start to try and unpick that as to what's going on , because it's showing up on some of the on-farms figures and it's certainly showing up in our much more controlled plot quality samples as well . So there's a concern there on the protein level because that's going to reflect not only in the in the herbage grazing quality but also , I expect , in silage crops that have been harvested recently and could tell a tale in the analyses that come through later on in the summer , but for the here and now it's considerably below where it should be . And to try and explain that is the follow-up question .
David PattersonI've been scratching my head about that and I think it's probably well , it's likely to be all about nitrogen .
David PattersonIf I go back to our plots just for a moment , we have fertilized them as normal . They have the same grass and the plots , obviously , as previous years . I think what has changed is the , the combination of the recent weather patterns and conditions , especially rainfall , and it comes down to the soil and the nitrogen . Crude protein in the grass is all about nitrogen , whether it comes from organic slurries , pellet fertilizer or clover nitrogen or even the collective soil nitrogen pool that's down in the soil itself , so that nitrogen is coming from all those various sources . And I think , well , my pet theory is that the consistently heavy rainfall that we had over this last oh , I don't know six or eight weeks , the spell during which people were applying slurries when they could and were applying fertilizer when they could we might not have got the full value out of the N that has been applied and converted into protein in the herbage itself . So I think we're running a bit low on nitrogen , is the short answer .
Jason RankinThank you , david . Moving on to Robert now , robert , hopefully all farms have got stock out now . Some farmers are in the situation where they have lots of grass in front of them . Others , who got out slightly earlier , are maybe now running tight , although hopefully , obviously the predicted surging growth will help that . What are the key steps farmers will need to take to ensure good grass quality as we enter the main grazing season ?
Robert PattersonYeah , as you say , jason , it's obviously been a very difficult start to the grazing season and there's several different scenarios out on farm at the minute . On farm at the minute the transition from first to second rotation has been particularly difficult for a lot of people because that unhelpful spell of rainfall last weekend made going on to any second rotations that had been damaged the first time very difficult . Livestock weren't settled and putting livestock back on the first rotation grass was very difficult to . Getestock weren't settled and putting livestock back on the first rotation grass was very difficult to get good residues on . To add to that , there were people who took maybe surplus paddocks out about a fortnight ago , which coincided with that coal spill , and maybe those paddocks haven't come back just as they would have hoped . So there are some people out there getting into a bit of a deficit .
Robert PattersonThe main thing now at this stage , going into this main part of the grazing season , is trying to keep on top of quality as we enter the period of the season where the grass plant tries to reproduce and go to seed . So at the minute it's all about residuals and targeting good residuals where possible . With weather like we have today , that's not as big an issue . But if we are still trying to get through those first rotation products , it is still quite difficult . So , looking at the options there , we could look at pre-mowing the caveat with pre-mowing is that it probably will reduce your growth in the subsequent couple of weeks after that and then sort of targeting those paddocks that were badly dirtied or had a really poor residual in the previous rotation and trying to earmark them for taking out as a surplus if there is a surplus existing . Earmark them for taking out as a surplus if there is a surplus existing .
Jason RankinThanks , robert . A lot of silage is being cut at the present time . What are the key steps for farmers to take to ensure good quality silage and avoid soil contamination ?
Robert PattersonYeah , it's a fantastic time to try and get some good quality grass harvested there at the minute . As we well know , field operations haven't been straightforward for this past nine months and there are plenty of fields out there with wet spots where there aren't usually wet spots , and there are ruts from story applications and fertilizer applications and grazing , whatever it may be . So it's just keeping an eye on soil contamination and just practical things like looking at the heights of moors and the heights of tedders and rakes and just trying to minimize the amount of soil coming back into the clamp or the bale there , and also for slurry applications . If slurry has gone on fairly late in the season , you know , just being mindful that you're not setting the rake down too low and you're bringing a lot of that sort of dry material back in . Okay , thank you , robert .
Jason RankinAndrew . Turning to you now , how has the grazing season gone for you so far , and how have you managed ?
Andrew DaleAfternoon , jason . Well , it'll not take me too long to summarise the grazing season so far on this farm , in that it only started on Monday . The grazing season so far on this farm , in that it only started on Monday , but basically a wee bit of an outline of the system here 120 milking cows , crossbred cows , viking , red Viking , holstein , and the history of the herd would be more fleck-feed crossbred . So we have quite big cows who are sprinkling a bit of Jersey in there as well , just to reduce the overall cow size . So the farm itself is about 300 acres acres . We grow about 60 acres of whole crop
Challenges in Farming Operations
Andrew Dale. So in terms of the grazing platform here , uh , we're very uh restricted . We've only 35 acres available for grazing . So if you work that out , 120 cows , so we're 35 acres . It's about eight cows to the hectare or something . So we then to try and bring in extra grazing area , we zero graze . So we have been zero grazing since late april uh , sort of the 20th of april there , on and off just whenever we could , and we were all set to start the grazing rotation , uh , last week , but basically it rained here nearly every day last week , uh , pretty heavy some of the days . So basically we kept nipping away at the zero grazing when we could on the drier fields and we actually nipped off a few of the grazing fields as well , just because they were getting covers of three and a half or four thousand . So a combination of high covers and poor ground conditions weren't going to be ideal for turning cows out , so we just nipped it off with a zero grazer and kept the cows in . But we've got the cows out now since Monday by day , out full time since Wednesday , and we're now starting to transition them on . There's still a wee bit of whole crop oats that they're getting there during milking , but that'll be cut out now over the next day or two and bringing them down from currently five kilos a meal down to two or three kilos just depends on how unsettled maybe the weather turns next week . But the idea would be to get them onto a full grass diet out day and night and also then zero graze some grass then during milking time just to make sure they're full of grass from next week . But it's been a crazy from next week . So that's the , but it's been a crazy , crazy , crazy spring here , if you want to call it a spring . But we have just to summarise this week , which emphasises how crazy it has been really to .
Andrew DaleYesterday evening we mowed some of our drier part of the farm , which got slurry in the middle of February and got topped up with fertil fertilizer in the middle of March , which would be the target for silage growing . So it was mowed last night and going to put in silage tomorrow . But also yesterday the wetter parts of the farm got the very first fertilizer of the year . We tried two or three times to get slurry onto it but it was always too wet and I still was driving through puddles yesterday to get theurry onto it , but it was always too wet and I still was driving through puddles yesterday to get the fertilizer onto it . So that's in itself going to be a bit of a challenge .
Andrew DaleMoving forward into it , where obviously the first block of silage ground has been cut now , 10 days time there'll be another block cut and then that late stuff that's only just received fertilizer . It'll probably not be ready for cutting to the end of May , so we'll just see what grass quality is like . I would imagine it'll start to throw seed head , regardless of whether it's six inches tall or a foot and a half tall . So we'll just see it might end up . It's not a big area so it might end up going to be a lot for dry cow feed or something , but it's just been a challenge . And on top of that we are currently trying to sow some spring oats into ground that was ploughed in the middle of September for winter wheat . So that sort of summarizes just where the struggles have been over the last sort of seven , eight months on this particular area .
Andrew DaleAnd in terms of growth , just to back up what David was saying , we measure weekly here . So growth rates were 30 , 40 kilos maximum throughout April there , combination , I suppose , of cold , wet soils and plus disjointed fertilizer applications . But measured it at the start of the week there and we were getting 63 . And with the heat that we've had in the last few days I would imagine we'll be recording a growth of 80 plus now at the weekend in a couple of days , whenever we measure again . So growth has at last started to take off and we'll just monitor pre-grazing heights or whatever .
Andrew DaleWe're sitting at low 3,000s there at the minute and we're out full time .
Andrew DaleSo if we've got enough grass in the grazing platform we'll even skip rounds , because you could skip around in 18 days . So we'll be , rather than split a field into four , we just split it into three and keep them . Keep them moving , but also try and hit the residuals if we can , and if covers get a bit high , we'll skip a field , we'll zero graze it or we'll bail it or something , because we're going to be cutting silage on and off sort of every 10 days now for the next few weeks anyway . So that's the way we'll hopefully control it and get everything back into some sort of shape again . Uh , there's a lot of slurry still in store that we weren't able to get out in the spring . So again we'll be . We have a lessy tanker now with trail and shoe , so we'll try and apply some of it , maybe when we can after the cows , or definitely after the zero grazer , and make use of it . Try and reduce our bought fertiliser requirements if we can now , and that kind of summarises where we're at at the minute .
Jason RankinThank you , andrew . As you say , a very challenging year all around , particularly for those of you in wetter parts of the country . John , william , coming on now to you and how things have gone for you , obviously we're going to split in this farm because John , you look after mainly the beef cattle and William the sheep . So , john , do you want to start from the beef end of things as to how things have gone for you this year ? Start from the beef end of things as to how things have gone for you this year .
John EgertonYeah , thanks , Jason . Yeah , it has been a difficult year . Most years are
Spring Farming Challenges and Solutions
John Egertondifficult here . Anyway , We've had cattle out from early April , out and in and doing the hokey-cokey and moving around and doing damage . We were lucky we got out early with slurry and we got out early with fertilizer and the grass growth has been reasonable here even with the wet conditions . I was happy enough with the grass growth . The biggest problem was utilization and leaving heavier residuals than I would have liked , doing a bit of damage .
John EgertonWe started about two weeks ago taking paddocks out , which has worked very well . We've cut paddocks off and we've got those slurried and they're coming again . Well , Our growth last week was actually 75 , but our growth never got down below about 40 anyway . So we were happy enough . All cattle have been out now for about two weeks and the issue is that some of them have been going into covers of three to four thousand and a product that should have lasted them three days hasn't lasted them two days , Even after a day and a half . They've been looking for a change and tramping about . The issue now will be those paddocks the next time around . By right , those should be cut the next time around , but there's a bit of surface damage and there's a bit of dirt on the grass , it wouldn't make very good quality sedage . So we're in a difficult situation there .
John EgertonThis last few days it has improved . Utilisation has definitely massively improved . We're almost around the first rotation . The last three paddocks of the first rotation I actually cut them this morning , so we'll be moving . Tomorrow we'll be moving into the second rotation , which should help improve the thing . The paddocks that were cut a couple of weeks ago have came well and are ready for grazing again now , even though it's only two weeks . Hopefully there's not going to come too much rain . My graph hasn't been that pleasant to look at . Recently it's just been showing a massive surplus , even though realistically I hadn't a lot of surplus . But hopefully next week , with cutting out these paddocks , the graph will be more where I want it to be .
Jason RankinThank you , William . How are things going on the sheep end of the farm ?
William EgertonYeah , thanks , euston . Like everyone else said , it has been a very challenging spring . Getting ewes and lambs turned out early on in middle of March was very difficult . Ground was saturated , young lambs that don't survive well out in the rain and they don't survive well out in the rain . And grass growth , as my father says , has sort of been alright here . Utilisation was tough going . Some fields did get too wet to be grazed at all and when they did eventually dry up they were cut sort of towards the end , middle of April , and I have noticed that they were a wee bit slower to come back again , just with the cold weather . But thankfully now the heat has came , the sun has came out and I should be doing okay for grass . I'm going to be expecting grass to be up high 80s , high 90s this week for growth .
Jason RankinJoe William , what are your plans ? What are you likely to be cutting silage on your farm ? Have you closed up anything ? Cutting silage on your farm ? Have you closed ?
John Egertonup anything for silage at the present time . Yeah , the silage ground only got applications to fertiliser about three weeks ago , so it's probably another two weeks out yet . We hoped in the meantime to be cutting away products almost every week . We normally aim for the last week in May and it's looking like that's when it's going to be this year . It's bulking up fairly well now . There's some of the water ground that didn't get slurry , is a bit hungry looking and it's probably going to run the seed head and it's not going to be as good a quality , but hopefully it will improve . Someone said there about the protein in the air samples . So far the protein have been reasonable . I haven't had any issue with the protein . I'm not sure whether that's the fact that we got out early with urea and slurry . Maybe that has helped the protein . But the protein and air samples have been reasonable so far .
Jason RankinRobert , we're now entering an ideal time of year for overseeding clover . What are the key steps to take to maximise the chance of successful stitching in of clover ?
Robert PattersonYeah , as I say , jason , it's coming into the ideal time . Perhaps usually in a normal year it would have been a fortnight ago , but in terms of soil moisture and soil temperature and daylight hours , those are the three things we need to think about and we've got all those things at the minute . So if we're thinking about overseeding , traditionally it would be a white clover variety and hopefully you'll have some idea of paddock selection before this point . But in terms of paddock selection , you'd be thinking about the soil nutrient status of the paddocks . So ideally 2 plus for p and k and and above 6.3 for ph .
Robert PattersonThe prevalence of weeds in the paddock is a consideration as well , because there's limited ways to control the weeds when the clover comes through . So ideally a cleaner sward , looking at the sward in terms of the proportion of sown species currently in the sward and if you're going to be happy with that sward , say for the next five or six years , if you get a good hit of clover in terms of perennial ryegrass in it and also the sward density . So the denser the sward , the more difficult
Successful Clover Overseeding Techniques
Robert Patterson. Overseeding clover is trying to get it established and I suppose then getting a sown , getting plenty of soil contact , probably using an ironbuck , scratch the surface a couple of times and then really it's about grazing management thereafter . So trying to graze it at shorter grazing rotations , sort of 18 days . Lower pre-grazing covers 26 to 2800 kilos of dry matter to the hectare and reducing the nitrogen going on to those paddocks . So ideally no nitrogen , sort of a month before establishment , no nitrogen when it's sown and after the second grazing post sowing , then maybe going on with a half rate of nitrogen , sort of 15 kilos to the hectare if you need the grass growth there , all in an aim to try and reduce the competition from the grass plants there and give the clover as much of a fighting chance as possible and getting as much light into the base of the sward .
Robert PattersonSo a really quick turnaround with the overseeding . You can be back in there grazing in two or three weeks time , the overseeding , and you know you can be back in there grazing in two or three weeks time if you're able to get in and get the seed sown as soon as the paddock is grazed or mown , or whatever the case may be . The full swardry seed is still an option at this time of year and it's probably a belt and braces approach , but it's you know you're probably going to have a greater chance of a good establishment . But you're probably looking at have a greater chance of a good establishment , but you're probably looking at this time of year of being out of that paddock for eight to 10 weeks . So it's just what that ? What implications that will have on your stocking rate and your demand at this time of year .
David PattersonI was just going to add , robert has given a really good coverage there . Robert has given a really good coverage there . We were oversowing yesterday , actually last night , at Hillsborough here with it's a little bit different . It was pure plantain seed that we were stitching into a ryegrass sward . It's part of the DERA-funded plantain grazing study , just for context .
David PattersonBut the point is what I did notice , and even looking around the grass check bulletin for this week , soil moisture right around the country on the sites that we test has come up closer to field capacity and I think , even looking at that soil last night , soil is in the perfect condition right now for overseeding because it is not crumbly , it's not too hard at the surface and it's almost , I would call it , at the plasticine stage . It has , uh , the , the water table finally has got a little bit lower down the soil profile and that plastic nature of the , the very surface soil . It was allowing the first two passes of the empty iron block , as I call it . The first two passes were just scoring into it nicely and then the third pass was dropping the seed in . So it's perfect timing from a soil surface condition point of view . A coulter or a tine or any sort of , whatever machine it is , whatever's cutting into the surface , it's just allowing that nice little groove to go in and drop the seed in . So it's really good timing right now .
David PattersonAnd also just to re-emphasize Robert's other point , the aftercare is nearly as important , if not more important , and what we're intending to do this is an experimental paddock , if you like , but we're going to go in and cut it probably as much as every 10 days just to keep the grass competition back . A ryegrass regrowth after a light silage cut , heavy grazing cover , whatever it may be , is hugely competitive and it's amazing how quickly those ryegrass tillers just close over and a little tiny seedling the size of your , your wee finger , neil , is , is trying hard to compete . Whether it's a clover seedling or a plantain doesn't matter , um , they're having a huge job to do and that's why I think a lot of overseeding has not been successful in the past . We haven't kept the grass competition back .
Jason RankinAndrew , have you been taking any steps to establish clover on your farm ?
Andrew DaleWe have . If you walked my fields you would think that I haven't , but I've been doing a lot of the work that Robert basically summarized there at the start of his talk . There's no point of buying clover seed if the soil P and K's and P , h's and weed control isn't right . So over the last two , three years we've been working hard at trying to get all those ducks in a row , if you like , and really the farm is , I think , in a pretty good place now to try and make include clover successfully . The other thing if you remember , I highlighted the fact we have quite a tight grazing platform here . So again , we were feeding it hard with nitrogen in the past because we were restricted in area . But because of the zero grazing and the flexibility it gives us , now we're not just pushing the nitrogen as hard . So again , because basically you can do all the hard work you like about clover , but if you basically flood the thing with nitrogen then the grass is just going to out-compete it . So I think all the system , the overall system , is much more inviting if you like to make clover a success . So definitely this year we intend there's a local contractor has got one of these stitching in machines . So definitely , we intend to actually , as we get round , sort of over the next 10 days , I'll be hopefully trying to do a bit . Especially , as the guys have all said there , soil conditions are almost ideal at the minute for it . So we'll try and do a bit and see how we get on .
Establishing Clover for Reseeding Grass
Andrew DaleAgain , whenever we do a full reseed , in the past we would have always have used a bit of clover . I reseeded a big area a couple of years ago actually , and weed control was an issue in the field . So we we just sold it straight with grass and we've got the weeds under control now . So I intend now this year to try and stitch a bit . It was a hybrid grass actually , so it's quite open and it's now in its second year . So again , we'll probably go in and try and stitch in a wee bit of more hybrid and a wee bit of clover . This time just through it . It doesn't need ploughed around . So we'll just try and renovate it , rejuvenate it that way and hopefully get another two , three years out of it , but with the clover this time . Now we've got the weeds under control . So I'd also be very keen on maybe red clover .
Andrew DaleBut again , the flexibility on this farm is key and obviously , at my time at Hillsborough I had plenty of experience with red clover and , yes , it's a wonderful crop . It can grow in fresh air , but you need to have the right weather window for that 24 48 hours whenever you it's ready for cutting and , unlike grass , it is such a small window . Whenever it's ready it needs cut and if that happens to be two wet days , then you're unfortunately it'll be very difficult to make anything that's palatable at all for livestock . So , again it's it's something that I am thinking of dabbling with . Uh , but my issue is that the the best site I have for it in terms of growing , the type of ground .
Andrew DaleIt's a 40 acre block , so it's it's sort of go big or go home type thing . It's either . To do half of it's only a nuisance , so I don't know . It's still because , again , yes , you can reduce your inputs , but you've got to end up with something that you can feed to livestock at the end of it , and I've threw out too many bad black bales from my time at Hillsborough to know that that's not what conducive at all . So we'll just have to see . But no , the red clover thing is definitely something that I would be keen to dabble with . I think going forward , but definitely white clover across the farm is something that , as a starting point , we're hoping to go on that journey this year for sure .
Jason RankinThank you , andrew . John William , have you been taking any steps to establish clover ?
John EgertonYeah , well , I'll maybe start here , but we have been establishing clover for the last two years that white clover , and everything Robert says is exactly right .
John EgertonThe big issue we have is after the 18 days when you're ready to graze it . Quite often it's wet and when you go in and graze that young clover plant and it's wet , you're cramping the ground and you're damaging the clover and it's difficult to get it established in those conditions . Then if you wait to the dry conditions , the clover smothered out . So it has worked well in some areas and in other areas it has been difficult to establish . We usually found that June was actually the best month of the year to establish the trover and that's probably because ground conditions are usually better and it's easier to get back in in those 18 days and graze it off and give it a chance days and graze it off and give it a chance . Usually in May the weather can be changeable and to come back in wet conditions it has been difficult . William has been establishing it in the sheep ground as well and he's had difficulties , but I'll let him say that himself .
William EgertonA couple of years ago I stitched in quite a bit of clover on the sheep ground . I maybe took on a wee bit too much than what I should have , as I wasn't fit to graze some of it off in time and it did get smothered out . Another issue with the sheep end is sheep would tend to thicken grass out a lot and it is getting that soil contact and getting the light down in . Even when it is grazed off , the grass can be very dense of itself . Some paddocks work well and others not so well , and then that wet winter I'll question how much of the clover has actually survived through the winter .
Jason RankinDavid , for those farmers looking to do a full reseed , obviously we've no recommended list in R Ireland anymore , but what are the key things they should be looking for when selecting a grass seed mix ?
David PattersonYeah , I'll be as brief as possible . It's a big subject . You should probably still look for recommended list varieties . There are other lists available in the South and there's the Scottish available in the south . There's the Scottish list , the AHDB list , so you can still check out if the varieties that are available , perhaps through local merchants or seed houses , to make sure they are actually recommended on a list . After that you're trying to pick off the top of those lists .
David PattersonObviously , if it's a silage type sward , it's trying to match the heading out dates of the varieties with the likely time that you take first cut or your expected sort of week when you normally are able to achieve first cut silage . I think that's a critical point to watch those heading out dates achieve first cut silage . I think that's a critical point to watch those heading out dates . For a grazing type scenario it's maybe a case of with or without clover for a start off . If it's with clover , it's maybe doubling the seed rate in a mixture . If it's a 12 to 14 kilo mixture rather than one or one and a half , it's maybe three kilograms of white clover going into that full mixture , um and and watching the varieties there as well . In that you want um william will maybe shoot me about this , but it's it's wanting , uh desiring , to put some more open growing varieties and species for that matter , you know it's timothy as well as perennial ryegrass and , on the ryegrass varieties , having the slightly later heading , more open types such as the tetraploids . So upping the proportion of those and again back to basics mixtures shouldn't be complicated .
David PattersonTwo to three grass varieties is really all you need . And if we're talking about a more extensive area yes , it's about clover , but also looking at those other grass species , if you have a particularly dry field , that whenever there's a two week period in the summer without rain the field's going brown or something as extreme as that , you should be looking to deeper rooting grasses , festoololium , tall fescue and even cocksfoot . Some of the more palatable , more digestible varieties of cocksfoot are available On the silage front . We took silage off here at Hillsborough off most of the first cut area this week . Conditions were good . But the point is , when we looked at some of the more advanced tillers the growing point still hadn't emerged . It was probably about four-fifths of the way up through its travel and that was on the mature big tillers that you lift out of the sward . So it should be for those people that are cutting now or very recently or about to . I think the quality level in ryegrass should be pretty good at the moment .
Jason RankinThat's it for this episode of the Grass Check Podcast , and my thanks to David Patterson from AFBI , robert Patterson from CAFRI , andrew Dale and John and William Edgerton for joining us . Don't forget to rate , review and subscribe to this podcast . You can listen on Apple , amazon and Google Podcasts , as well as Spotify . For more information , you can go to the Grass Check website wwwagri-searchorg . Slash . Grasscheck and Grass Check social media channels . I'm Jason Rankin and join us the next time for the Grass Check podcast . Until then , stay safe .