Roughage tour Week 18
Drought leaves traces in the first grass cut
The drought of spring 2020 has left its mark on the first cut of grass. This is evident from the grass sample analysis of all grassland plots that are part of the Boerenbusiness Roughage tour 2020. These samples were collected from all participating livestock farmers on Friday 24 April. The lack of precipitation is particularly visible in the protein and dry matter content.
The fresh grass samples were examined and analyzed by Limagrain. Fred Lugthart, forage specialist at Limagrain, immediately sees the dry start of this spring reflected in the results. "What is very striking are the differences in the protein of the grass samples. This makes it clear that the manure was not used optimally due to the dry weather. Here and there you see an irrigated plot, where the use of the fertilizer was significantly higher. As a result, the crude protein is also higher."
| Plot | Dry matter | WHO | Sugar | NDF | Protein | NDF digestibility |
| Arch forest | 20,2 | 1.017 | 122 | 398 | 229 | 70 |
| Beerzerveld | 21,5 | 1.059 | 228 | 356 | 200 | 79 |
| Doetinchem | 18 | 1.015 | 137 | 415 | 230 | 79 |
| Jelsum | 21,2 | 1.041 | 189 | 380 | 193 | 73 |
| Newerkerk | 20 | 1.026 | 207 | 420 | 169 | 76 |
| Overloon | 19 | 1.009 | 135 | 422 | 215 | 78 |
| Sint-Oedenrode | 17 | 1.026 | 128 | 431 | 206 | 80 |
| Udenhout | 19 | 1.029 | 152 | 395 | 212 | 80 |
| Zeewolde | 17,8 | 999 | 131 | 435 | 211 | 79 |
| Zuidbroek | 20,7 | 1.004 | 155 | 412 | 195 | 70 |
source: data view
Dry matter contents relatively high
Lugthart continues: "Furthermore, due to the dry weather, the dry matter contents are relatively on the high side. Normally these contents are around 16 to 18% dry matter, this is now 20% or more in some places. In Beerzerveld the plot consists partly of newly sown grassland in the autumn, which explains the higher sugar content and somewhat lower NDF."
Grass absorbs nitrogen slowly
Bob Keurentjes, innovation manager forage cultivation at ForFarmers, also sees that the drought has played a major role in the grass. "Due to the drought of the past period, we see that the grass absorbs the nitrogen slowly. As a result, we do not see extremely high protein levels in the grass. Moreover, the protein it contains is very usable."
The plant is easily digestible and because of the many hours of sun, according to Keurentjes, there are also high sugar levels in the crop. "This means that it also contains a lot of energy. This can also be seen from the VEM values of over 1.000. So there is a good balance between protein and energy." In practice, he also sees this reflected in the urea levels in the milk, which can be kept well under control with outdoor grazing. "Due to the poor weather, we see that the extreme growth spurt has not materialized. There is a need for moisture, so hopefully we will get some rain in the coming days," concludes Keurentjes.
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