Applying fertilisers containing nitrogen and sulphur means the grass uses nitrogen more effectively, you get more kgs of dry matter per kg of nitrogen that you apply
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I asked a Gloucestershire farmer this week if he had much grass, he laughed and said its only the celts that have grass! It seems rainfall is becoming less predictable and the likely hood of longer spells of depressed grass growth is now an annual occurrence. Two Co Cork dairy farmers both said they were going to cut cow numbers in 2026, because over the last couple of years they’re having to buy forage every year where before they were self-sufficient.
It’s important that farmers plan for these extremes of weather, during the season. This means farms need to keep higher stocks of preserved forage, but they also need to look at their stocking rate. Purchasing forage or feeding extra cake to plug a forage deficit, doesn’t make economic sense if it’s happening most years. Keeping less stock will likely improve livestock performance because you’re feeding that stock better.
If it’s not until the end of August that swards green up with some leaf cover, then it might be worthwhile taking a different approach to nitrogen fertilisation. When swards green up, hit them with YaraVita Safe-N at 23 L/ha. This foliar nitrogen combined with already high soil nitrogen levels will work particularly well if used from the end of August into early September on silage swards where the cutting date needs to be flexible. Using foliar nitrogen this way for late silage cuts, helps minimise any problems with high grass nitrate levels at harvest
The latest grassland fertiliser and nutrition advice from the Yara agronomists.
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