Dairy management: is now a good time to reseed?

The traditional time for reseeding is spring and autumn. Over the last decade or so, the preference period to reseed is the spring time, as there are greater opportunities to graze the new sward in better conditions compared to autumn sowing.

Summer sowing, such as at this time of year is generally not advised because of the risk of a dry period affecting germination.

However, it looks like the risk of a dry spell affecting germination was more of an issue with spring sowing this year as the very dry period during April and May did put some reseeds under pressure.

Burst of growth

Considering the amount of rain we’re getting now it looks like a dry spell is unlikely. Plus, grass growth rates are way higher than normal at this time of year due to the burst of growth after the mini-drought.

This means that many farms have surplus grass and closing up a paddock for reseeding will help to increase demand and reduce the surplus.

The only proviso is that reseeding takes ground out of the grazing rotation for a relatively long time, usually around 60 days so ground sprayed off today won’t be grazed again until early September.

However, this is still considerably earlier than the traditional time for autumn reseeding. A field that is not reseeded until mid-August is not likely to be grazed again until mid-October, which in my view is a bit late if you want to get a few grazings in before being closed for the winter.

So, if reseeding is being planned then I’d say it’s better to go now rather than later. Glyphosate is recommended to be used to spray off the existing sward. The sprayed off field can either be grazed or cut for silage five to seven days after spraying.

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