Grass seed suppliers are reporting increased enquires for product this spring as farmers look to make-up for reduced reseeding activity last year. It is estimated that the total area of grassland reseeded last year was back by 10-15% on normal level due to the wet spring and fears that sufficient fodder would not be saved for this winter.
Grass seed suppliers are reporting increased enquires for product this spring as farmers look to make-up for reduced reseeding activity last year.
It is estimated that the total area of grassland reseeded last year was back by 10-15% on normal level due to the wet spring and fears that sufficient fodder would not be saved for this winter.
Dave Barry of Goldcrop said everything was looking good for the season ahead.
“The two key factors for reseeding are weather and milk price, and both of those are just right at the moment,” Barry said.
Mary McEvoy of Germinal said there appeared to be a real appetite for reseeding among farmers this year.
“The mood seems to be good,” she said.
Different
Around 100,000ha of grassland is usually reseeded each year but activity was significantly reduced last year on the back of an extremely wet spring and dry August.
“We had 26 continuous days of rain last March, that set the grazing season back a month so the last thing fellows were thinking about was reseeding,” said Michael O’Donovan of Teagasc.
This March has been completely different. He predicted that farmers may take advantage of the dry conditions and reseed earlier depending how the weather comes in April and early May.
Higher clover levels in grass seed mixes, in order to reduce fertiliser requirements, have been a feature of recent years and this trend is set to continue.
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