Cultivation Update - 17th August 2012

Richard Hales, Sumo Grassland Specialist, comments on latest field conditions:

What a difference a couple of months make! Many areas have had two of the wettest months ?on record. I was told the other day that 1" of rain equals 100 tonnes per acre.

Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that the intensity and volume of rainfall that fell in April and June, combined with grazing animals and machinery movements, is going to have a serious effect on soil compaction.

Swards will have become stressed as a result of oxygen deficiency caused by waterlogging, and valuable nutrients will have been lost to run-off.

Using a grassland subsoiler to open up the soil will enable air and nutrients to get down to the roots and help maximise production for the remainder of the growing season.

Drainage will be enhanced and this may prolong the grazing period in the back end and also enable earlier turnout next spring.

If you have a seeder mounted on your subsoiler and the sward has been grazed down tight, then this may be an ideal opportunity to oversow with some perennial ryegrass to help boost grass productivity, providing that good seed to soil contact can be established.