News Archive

January 2010: Thinking ahead to Spring grass

Spring grass extends the grazing season and can have a major effect on the feeding costs and performance of livestock. This factsheet is a guide for the use of spring fertiliser for grazed pasture. The guide also applies to fields grazed prior to a later silage crop.

December 2009: GDC at the Winter Fair

The Grassland Development Centre PROSOIL project team were present on the IBERS stand at the 2009 Winter Fair, held at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells on November 30th and December 1st. 

It was an ideal opportunity to meet up with our development farmers and many other interested parties to continue to build awareness of the project and the importance of soil health.

During the show, visitors to the stand were invited to enter a competition to win a luxury hamper of Welsh produce.  As well as a variety of general questions on soil health, contestants were shown 3 soil samples and asked to assess them. 

Many congratulations to our winner, Roy Price of Knighton.  If you entered the competition and want to see all the correct answers, click Competition Answers
If you didn't enter the competition but want to test your knowledge, try these questions before clicking through to the answer sheet:

• Healthy worms are always pink - TRUE or FALSE?
• Aeration, because it opens up water and airways, is always beneficial - TRUE or FALSE?
• Soil compaction is a problem on most farms - TRUE or FALSE?
• Fungi are the heaviest proportion of living organism in topsoil - TRUE or FALSE?
• How many tonnes/acre of living creatures are there in typical grassland topsoil - 1.5, 2.5, or 4.0?

22 September 2009 - National Grassland Management Competition winner announced

December 08 - Winner of Winter Fair Forage Competition held at the RWS, Builth Wells was Ms Gail Brownset of Pencader.

19 September 2008 - National Grassland Management Competition winner announced
The winner of the 2008 BGS National Grassland Management Competition, sponsored by GrowHow UK and DLF-Trifolium, is a family-run beef and sheep farm on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park. Emyr Jones and sons, Aled and Dylan, farm 190ha (470 acres) at Rhiwaedog, Rhosygwaliau, Bala, in North Wales. They are members of the Meirionydd Grassland Society and Emyr is deputy president of the Farmers Union of Wales.

September 2008 - Tactics for safely managing slurry during current wet conditions

August 2008 - Sawfly alert - check grazing crops

January 2008 - 100% Organic Feed Regulation.  Click link for news on minimising costs of feeding livestock.

2007

Competition Winners: GDC/IGER Stand, Winter Fair, November 2007

Congratulations to Mr Morgan, St Clears, on winning GDC's Forage Competition.  Mr Morgan will receive 5kg of clover seed.  Answers: Fodder Beet, Red Clover and Grazed Grass. For sight of questions, please click here.

Land Use Survey Competition - The lucky winner of the Hamper is Ms Shan Williams, Llanidloes. Many congratulations.

Autumn Grass Quality

• Results for 17th September
• Results for 10th September
  

Grass Focus

If you have a Grass Focus question for GDC - Tel: 01970 823058 or Email: heather.mccalman@bbsrc.ac.uk,/ chris.duller@bbsrc.ac.uk,/ charlie.morgan@bbsrc.ac.uk, / huw.powell@bbsrc.ac.uk

• Conventional
  • September / Medi
  • August / Awst

• Organic
  • September / Medi
  • August / Awst

Press Releases

• July 2008 - RUGGED HILL FARM WITH SWARDS THAT RESEMBLE A BOWLING GREEN WINS GRASSLAND COMPETITION
• March 2008 - Results of Silage competition 2008 (FWGS)

Grass for Silage Weekly Results (May To June 2007)

Grass for Silage - Monitoring to Make Best Quality Silage
IGER Grassland Development Centre, through Farming Connect, will be sampling a range of grassland crops closed for silage for up to three weeks before cutting, to monitor crop quality. From this weekly update farmers can gauge how swards are progressing across Wales, to help them make the best quality silage. Most early samples are from lowland dairy farms but as the weeks progress, samples will come from beef/sheep farms and from higher altitudes.

Producing a high quality, well fermented, stable silage is only possible if the grass at cutting time is of suitable quality. Quality targets include; high sugars for good fermentation, low nitrate levels to minimise ammonia that restricts fermentation, and high D value.

The updates include tips on cutting and sward recovery, clamp and bale management, and additive use, depending on the weather or other relevant factors and can be found here below on the IGER GDC web pages and DDC web pages.

For further information please contact Heather McCalman 01970 823026/01970823058 or one of the GDC team at IGER.

Week 1: 27 April 2007
Week 2: 4 May 2007
Week 3: 11 May 2007
Week 4: 18 May 2007
Week 5: 21 May 2007
Week 6: 1 June 2007
Week 7: 8 June 2007
Week 8: 11 June 2007
Week 9: 18 June 2007

REPORTS (Miscellaneous)

• Report of an Open Day held 1st June 07 at Camaes Farm (a HCC beef & sheep demo farm), Llangernyw, Llanrwst.

SPRING NEWS 2007

• Information on 'Aber and 'Clover' varieties.

FWGS

• Results of Competitions

2006 NEWS

WINTER FAIR 2006 - Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells. 
Winner of GDC's competition - Mr Foord, Manor Farm, Llanvapley, Abergavenny