Management Notes for April 2017

Management Notes are prepared by staff from the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).

April is a suitable time to relieve soil compaction

DAIRYING

Prepared by: Christopher Breen

Cows at grass

Last month I encouraged you to get your cows out to grass. With the change in time your cows should now be going to grass straight after morning milking and grazing for half a day. A concern you may have when turning cows out to grass is milk yields ‘crashing’. How can you maximise daily yield and remain feed efficient on your farm this spring, when individual cow yield can vary from 15 to 60 litres?

In a spread calving pattern herd batching cows into yield groups will help. Use milk yields to sort cows into groups for:

• Grazing full-time
• Grazing by day and housing by night
• Housing full-time

For the full-time grazing group the ration M+ depends on grass supply and quality. For the partial grazing or full-time housed groups the ration M+ should be formulated so the lowest yielding cow in the group is not overfed. The M+ will change as cows are moved from housing, through partial grazing to full-time grazing.

Currently farms with cows grazing for a few hours after morning milking are topping up in the parlour after the first 10 litres of milk at a rate of 0.45 kg concentrate per litre. Once cows are settled on day time grazing, restrict parlour feeding to cows giving more than 15 litres. Full-time grazing with 7.5 kg of parlour supplementation can provide the nutritional requirements for cows yielding up to 40 litres. Cows yielding more than 40 litres should still have access to blend in a TMR. Aim to have your grazing rotation fully established by the third week in April. Full-time grazing will then provide the nutritional requirement for cows yielding up to 25 litres.The table below shows a practical spring transition:

Relieving soil compaction

Now is a suitable time to correct problems caused by soil compaction. Treated fields will give improved productivity and drainage. Dig test holes in affected fields to determine the depth of the compacted layer. Signs to look for include a layer that is hard to break up, shallow roots growing horizontally, few worms, bad smell or grey colour and brown mottling. The depth of the compacted layer determines the type of machine that should be used to rectify the problem. Use a machine that reaches deep enough to lift and loosen the compacted layer when the soil is dry enough to fracture.

Nitrogen for silage

A splash-plate application of 33 cubic metres per hectare (3000 gallons per acre) of cow slurry this February or March will have supplied enough phosphate and potash for first cut silage at typical silage field soil indices. It will also have provided some nitrogen for grass growth. As there is still a major requirement for nitrogen fertiliser apply up to a further 100 kg of nitrogen per hectare (80 units per acre) to fields for first cut.

April jobs checklist

• Prepare for the forth coming breeding season. How good are your heat detection rates? Can these be improved?
• Have you selected suitable bulls to achieve your long term breeding goals?
• Assess condition of young stock, especially maiden heifers. Will they be in the right condition for service?
• Have you adjusted time clocks now the time has changed?

BEEF AND SHEEP

Prepared by: Darryl Boyd

GRASSLAND

Getting livestock out

Make the most of spring grass by getting livestock out to graze where possible. Trial work continues to prove the benefits of dividing larger fields with livestock grazing a selected area for no more than three days. The benefits are due to the grazing of younger, leafier grass. This on/off approach results in less poaching if set up and managed correctly. It is important to graze fields and paddocks out in April to ensure quality grass and growth in subsequent grazings.

What is poaching damage?

Recent trials have found that a light or moderate poaching of a perennial ryegrass dominated sward on free draining soils has no effect on herbage mass at the next grazing, whereas severe poaching reduces herbage mass at the next grazing by 30%. Cumulative herbage production for the year was unaffected. These swards and soils are resilient to various levels of poaching damage.

On creeping bent dominated swards on poorly draining soils poaching damage resulted in a reduction in herbage mass at the next grazing of 21%, 69% and 97% for light, moderate and severe poaching respectively. Cumulative herbage production was also reduced by between 14% and 30% for the various levels of poaching damage.

Non perennial ryegrass swards on wetter soils are not capable of returning to productivity. Therefore consider multiple entry points to fields, dedicated tracks and walkways, a ‘sacrifice’ area, only grazing the lightest stock in early spring and minimising damage through an on/off style of grazing.

Things to watch out for!

Freshly calved cows may need supplemented with magnesium. Stress factors such as cold, wet weather or a shortage of grass may trigger grass staggers. Also be aware that fast growing grasses well fertilized with potash can also trigger this condition.

Keep a close watch on young calves for scours, pneumonia and joint ill even at grass, as early detection greatly reduces the effects. Do your cows need any boosters before the breeding season starts? Vaccination of calves for clostridial diseases is required as the risk of disease increases as they grow and eat more grass.

SHEEP

Electronic identification (EID)

Electronic identification became compulsory on 31December 2009 but how many of you can say it has been a real benefit on your farm over the last eight years? One farmer who is realising the benefits is Business Development Group member Clement Lynch. Clement says “It’s something I thought about for a while and have now been doing for a few years. Last year I created the link between lambs and ewes at a month old and this year I plan to tag them at birth or shortly after. This will allow me to monitor live weight gains in the first five weeks which will be achieved predominantly from milk. These are the ewe lambs I target for replacements. Recording also allows me to track individual ewes and see if they have any reoccurring issues and most, if not all, of my culling decisions are based on this real data. The main advantage is the weight records. I finish all my lambs and traditionally have always had batches of lambs throughout the winter I couldn’t finish. These lambs are now identified early and any not gaining sufficient weight are removed, housed and fed after which their gains increase dramatically. The gain is worked out automatically and removes all the hassle of paperwork.          

In the first year I just recorded weights but each year I become more confident with the system and I am now recording ram details and medicines. This is another useful tool as when weighing lambs the system flags up withdrawal periods and helps keep me compliant.”

The real benefit of EID is the data which can be captured allowing informed decisions to be made. If something isn’t measured then is it really managed?

HORTICULTURE

Prepared by: Kieran Lavelle

Amenity Forum

On 9 March 2017 a large number of horticulture professionals from across Northern Ireland attended the Amenity Forum updating event at Greenmount Campus, Antrim. The Amenity Forum is a UK wide voluntary initiative for the landscape, greenkeeping, sportsturf and grounds maintenance sectors to promote best practice in the management of weeds, pests and diseases.

Attendees heard engaging presentations from a range of industry speakers including Mr Robin Bolton, CAFRE speaking on behalf of the Water Catchment Partnership, Mr Ian Forman of the National Sprayer Testing Scheme (NSTS), Mr John Moverley of the Amenity Forum and Mr Peter Corbett on behalf of BASIS Amenity Register.

The Sustainable Use Directive requires that all pesticide application equipment is tested or inspected. Boom sprayers, air blast sprayers, slug pellet applicators, weed wipers, seed treatment equipment must be formally tested by a NSTS tester. Hand held or pedestrian controlled machines are exempt from testing but should be checked regularly and records maintained. More information on testing is available on the NSTS website and sprayer checklists on The Voluntary Initiative website.

This month the Amenity Forum is launching a survey of the sector across the UK to gather information on the current level of industry awareness and how the Amenity Forum can become a ‘voice for the sector’. This is important as the sector faces increasing restrictions on the use of pesticides and fungicides and the need to develop alternative management strategies is recognised.

The Amenity Forum have also launched a public awareness campaign called ‘Get Moving’ to highlight the link between the work of amenity horticulture professionals and people’s daily lives including maintaining road and rail transport networks, sports fields and recreational areas.

To promote best practice the Amenity Forum has launched an ‘Amenity Spray Operator of the Year Award’ with a prize of a trip to the USA. Entries online at the Amenity Forum website with winners announced at the National Conference in England on 12 October 2017.

The event concluded with a very productive question and answer session with attendees highlighting how different sectors within amenity horticulture faced the same challenges. The Amenity Forum provides an opportunity for these sectors to work together to promote best practice, environmental protection and continued professional development. 

Vegetable Business Development Group (BDG)

Vegetable growers gathered recently to wrap up the first year of the Business Development Group meetings. A popular topic of discussion for this specialised sector has been marketing. Within the vegetable BDG, growers are supplying a range of customer bases including wholesale, distributors, processors and directly into multiple retailers. Regardless of these variants, an understanding of key aspects of marketing can give a grower an edge when selling produce. With that in mind, the Vegetable BDG welcomed Dr. Geoff Simmons, Senior Lecturer in Management at Queen’s University Belfast.

Dr. Simmons is leading a project aiming to develop the competitiveness of Northern Ireland agri-food firms through market intelligence. Specifically, participating growers can access information about the demographics of people purchasing their products. The goal is to use this data to better inform decisions about product lines, packaging and even future product development. This exciting opportunity has already been taken up by a number of vegetable growers and processors, as well as other agri-food firms.

The group also reflected on the wide variety of routes to market within the vegetable industry in Northern Ireland. While market intelligence from reports such as Dunhumbie and Mintel may seem a far cry from the raw product being supplied to a wholesaler or processor, growers can also access their own market intelligence using social media. In previous meetings the group explored outlets such as Facebook for business purposes. Creating an online presence and bringing the story of commercial horticulture to a wider audience can work very well. This option has beneficial features, called insights, which help organisations access the demographics of their online audience.

Clearly there are tools available for growers at every scale to improve marketing. We look forward to continued work in this area as we move into the second year of BDGs.

CROPS

Prepared by: Leigh McClean

Winter cereals

Most winter cereals are due nitrogen at early stem extension (growth stage 30-32), barley normally reaching this stage ahead of wheat. If not already applied aim to include sulphur at a total rate of 25-40 kg per hectare of SO3 for all cereals, remembering applications of organic manures will have supplied some of this requirement. This spring do not underestimate the nutrients from autumn applied manures. Lower than normal winter rainfall means there is less likelihood nutrients such as nitrogen and sulphur have been leached out of the root zone and in many cases should still be readily available to winter crops.

Inspect crops for any recently emerged broad leaved weeds applying top-up herbicide as soon as conditions allow. As with all pesticides adhere to product labels paying particular attention to latest application timings, sequences with other herbicides and approved tank mixes with other products. A moment spent testing tank mixes in a bucket ensures products are physically compatible before adding to the sprayer but is not an indication of crop safety of the mixture. 

Disease control

The relatively mild and good growing winter has resulted in thick crops of winter barley and generally high levels of foliar disease. Mildew and Rhynchosporium are widespread and where infection is severe keep fungicide rates high particularly where T0 fungicide was not applied or T1 has still to be applied. Apply the follow up T2 fungicide around growth stage 39 when the flag leaf has fully emerged and the first few awns are appearing, no later than four weeks from the T1 timing. At both T1 and T2 timings best performance is achieved with an SDHI or prothioconazole in the product mix. Strobilurins and other azoles actives aren’t as strong but still offer useful protection in mixes where crops are clean or disease pressure is lower. 

By now some winter wheat will have received a T0 fungicide. Where this has not been applied the T1 will be critical to get on top of Septoria and should be applied around growth stage 32 ideally when leaf 3 is emerging. For the T1 use robust rates of Triazole, for example Ignite or Proline mixed with an SDHI and multisite protectant. 

Mildew is easily found in all cereals this year, and if present, add a specific mildewicide to the tank mix at the next fungicide timing. As mentioned many winter cereals particularly barley are thick and pose a high lodging risk. If so early stem extension is the most effective timing to shorten straw so include PGR, for example Chlormequat and Moddus with T1 fungicides. For thick, early sown winter barley a split application may be necessary, ideally at T0 and T1. However if the T0 timing has been missed products such as Terpal, Canopy or Cerone can be applied after T1. In all cases consult the product label for latest application stage.   

Spring barley

Sowing should take place as soon as a good seedbed can be created, aiming for a seed rate between 350 and 400 grains per square metre.

Also plan to treat weeds in emerging crops as soon as possible. Using pre-emergence herbicides can help manage resistant broad leaved weeds such as chickweed and also target problem annual meadow grass. 

POTATOES

Sprouting and chitting

Pre-sprouting systems (bag or tray) must ensure adequate temperature, ventilation and light to control sprout growth and protect against frost. As seed planted now will be for the main crop, ensure the pre-sprouting system encourages multiple sprouting to produce many tubers, which can increase in size over a longer growing season than with early varieties. 

Greening and EFA requirements 

Greening represents approximately 30% of your entitlement value so act early to make sure you meet your greening requirement. Crop diversification remains the same as in previous years with the two and three crop rules still applying. Those with Ecological Focus Area (EFA) requirement still must ensure that an area equivalent to at least 5% of their arable land is used as an EFA.

Notes to editors: 

1. Follow us on Twitter.
2. All media enquiries to DAERA Press Office or tel: 028 9052 4619.

Share this page