The second cut has been removed from many people for a while, but according to advisors Jan Rozeboom and Gerard Abbink it remains difficult to make a clear analysis of this cut. On the other hand, it can be said with certainty that the downward peaks were less severe than last year.
This year there was one large spread visible when mowing. "This also means that the conditions for mowing and ensiling have been very variable. Yet it seems that most farmers were generally able to remove the grass from the land in good, drying weather," says Gerard Abbink, advisor at Groeikracht. According to him, the main question is to what extent the grass has suffered from the drought. "However, there is still no clear answer to this."
Jan Rozeboom, the Nutrition specialist at ABZ Animal Nutrition, has a similar opinion. "In general, the conditions were indeed good, but due to the changeable weather this can still differ per region. For example, we had a lot of precipitation 2 weeks ago. If you were unsure at that moment whether or not to mow, and you have If you wait, there is a good chance that the grass will still have grown considerably." According to both advisors, the fact that precipitation amounts in the Netherlands were very variable also played a role.
'Quality very diverse'
Due to the differences in the mowing moment, no analyzes of the second cut have yet been presented. "During the second cut, silage is often cut over the first cut, in order to compensate the cuts with each other. That is something that has happened frequently this year," Rozeboom says. Mowing also started later in the north of the country, compared to other areas in the country. "These farmers were still able to absorb the precipitation, while farmers in the south of the Netherlands had to make do with much less precipitation."
According to Rozeboom, this also means that the quality in the south of the country sometimes leaves much to be desired. "However, in general I am of the opinion that the second cut is on average slightly higher than last year. This year, fairly normal to thick cuts were taken from the land, with at least 2 tons per percent dry matter. Last year more outliers were visible downwards."
What Abbink especially notices is that the farmers who took the second cut from the land at the end of May almost have a similar pit as with the first cut. "The quality is therefore excellent. Those who were still busy last week or this week cannot say that. The quality therefore varies considerably and depends on the moment of mowing. This makes it very difficult to make a good analysis this year. making the second cut."
Will there be a third cut?
Very little or no rainfall is expected in the next 14 days, making it uncertain whether a third crop can be harvested from the land, according to the advisors. "Here and there it has already been removed from the land, but there are also areas where it is expected that it will no longer be available. The weather, on the other hand, is very unpredictable. If it does start to rain, it may well happen that there will still be plenty of mowing," Abbink concludes.