2020 will go down in the books as a year with an extremely dry spring. We didn't know how the rest of the growing season will turn out at the beginning of July. What is certain is that the botanical composition of the grass has certainly not improved after the third dry year in a row. The big question now is what can we do about this, when and how?
The situation is different for each company. There are companies with sufficient plots in which good, desirable grasses and any other desired plants (clovers, herbs) can be found. Unfortunately, there are also the necessary plots where the bad grasses and weeds have taken over. And of course there are all kinds of possible variations between very good and very bad plots.
What to do now and that within the legal frameworks? We give you a number of options / possibilities.
Features
Is the grass quality good, but is the sod too open and/or are there too many weeds? In that case, the weeds must first be sprayed dead. After this, the grass can be overseeded and/or the plot can be grazed more intensively. This stimulates tillering and thus gives a denser sod again. However, keep in mind that you will not see the result of grazing until the following season. More grazing in late summer results in dense sod in spring. Spring grazing shows a denser sod the following fall.
Is the grass quality good, but are there areas that are too large with bad grasses and/or weeds? First try to assess the ratio between good and bad. For example, the percentage of cultivation can be estimated reasonably well due to the characteristic spots and the deviating color. Also know that breeding cannot be reduced, but in the most favorable case can only be kept under control. In order to combat cultivation with the underground rhizomes, spraying is necessary.
tearing grassland
If there is no cultivation, but still too little good grass, renewal is necessary. Grassland tearing is allowed on clay and peat until September 15th. On sand and loess soil, this is allowed until August 31 (after notification to the RVO).
If cracks are chosen, try to work towards them so that they can be performed efficiently. When tearing in combination with spraying, there must be a beautiful, fresh-growing sod. So carry out the spraying after mowing and when the grass has started to grow again. Tearing without spraying works best in a very short sod. So graze extremely short (probably undesirable for the livestock) or mow with extra short stubble and then destroy immediately.
Schedule
Assess now which areas may need to be tackled, and work towards them with the planning, so that you have a wide time frame to properly implement the necessary measures. That means working towards the desired grass length and sod purity. Also reduce the fertilization in time or even stop it completely. In other fields, the nutrients are better utilized!
Reseeding or overseeding is expensive enough. Make the chance of success as big as possible!
Source: PPP-Agro Advies