Grassland Management and Characteristics

Grassland Types

• Rough mountain/hill grazing: poor quality growth, peaty soil, difficult to cultivate, improved by liming and reseeding
• Permanent grassland: variable botanical composition, low stocking rate, low production levels, land is never ploughed
• Leys: fertilised and limed to maintain quality, variable botanical composition, medium stocking rate, medium production levels
• Sown for grazing: temporary and reseeded often, little variability in botanical composition, high stocking rate, high production levels

Growth of Grass

• Vegetative growth: tillers grow
• Elongation: stem develops
• Reproduction: seed head emerges
• Growth rate: slow to begin, rapid growth, slows during reproductive phase
• Palatability: measures pleasantness to taste
• Productivity: measures quantity of herbage produced
• Digestibility: proportion of food assimilated by the body
• Dry Matter (DM): matter remaining after water removal
• Dry Matter Digestibility (DMD): percentage of DM that can be digested
• Dry Matter Intake (DMI): amount of feed consumed, excluding water content

Seed Selection

• Perennial RyeGrass
• Italian RyeGrass
• White Clover
• Red Clover

Grazing

• Livestock Units (LU): measure of livestock grazing, equivalent to one dairy cow or one suckler cow
• 1 LU = 12 tonnes of herbage annually
• Conversion rates: 1 dairy/suckler cow = 1.0 LU, Yearlings = 0.6 LU

Crop Types

• Cover crop: planted to cover soil, manages soil erosion, fertility, quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, biodiversity, and wildlife
• Cash crop: grown to sell for profit
• Catch crop: fast-growing crop grown between successive plantings of a main crop, usually for animal feed, can improve soil structure
• Energy crop: low-cost and low-maintenance crop grown solely for energy production

Kale Production

Growth Cycle

• Soil suitability: free-draining loam or sandy soil, pH 6-7
• Sown: April – July
• Growing time: 5-6 months
• Use: grazed as a fodder crop

Harvesting and Storage

• Harvesting techniques:
  • Zero grazing (crop cut by farmer and brought to housed animals)
  • Strip grazing (most popular, but land must be suitable to avoid poaching)
• Storage methods:
  • Ensiling (baled as ‘kaleage’)
  • Grazed in situ by cattle or sheep using a strip grazing system

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

• Reduces winter feed costs
• May reduce winter housing costs
• Reduces labour and machinery requirement
• High crude protein
• Acts as a cover crop:
  • Prevents soil erosion
  • Reduces nitrogen leaching
  • Increases soil organic matter
  • Contributes to biodiversity

Disadvantages

• Vulnerable to attack from pests and diseases
• Risk of poaching land if grazed in situ

Pests and Diseases

Pests

• Club Root:
  • Soil-borne fungus (spores remain in soil for 20 years)
  • Roots swell and prevents crop from absorbing nutrients and water
  • Controlled by:
    • Crop rotation
    • Avoid growing kale in fields with club root history
    • Planting resistant varieties (e.g. Caledonian)

Diseases

• Flea Beetle:
  • Eats holes in stem, leaves and cotyledons at emergence
  • Common in warm, dry conditions and slow growing crops
  • Controlled by:
    • Contact insecticide