Roughage tour Grass and silage maize
These are the 10 participants in the Ruwvoerour 2021
De Boerenbusiness Roughage Tour is being organized this year for the second year in a row. During the entire 2021 growing season, 10 plots of grassland and 10 plots of silage maize will be monitored at 10 dairy farmers across the country. We hereby present the dairy farmers and the location of the plots.
All information about sowing, emergence, harvest and development on the plots are shared on the special page of the Roughage Tour.
North of the Netherlands
The first participant Wim Bosch has his dairy farm in Zuidbroek in Groningen. His herd consists of 240 dairy cows and 160 young stock. These animals are kept on 125 ha of acreage consisting of 100 ha of grass and 25 ha of maize. The plots consist of a transition from clay to sandy soil, where the sandy soils are mainly used for growing maize.
The second participant is located in the north of Friesland, Jelsum, there is dairy farmer Jan Dirk Ubbels. He keeps 100 dairy cows and associated young stock on the 140-hectare dairy farm. 75 hectares of grass and 25 hectares of maize are grown on the clay soil. In addition, Ubbels uses grazing and has a digester.
The third participant is North Hollander Frank Rooker and comes out Arch forest. 118 hectares of grass and 76 hectares of maize are grown on the 16,6 hectare area consisting of loam soil. The acreage also consists of 13 hectares of management land and he rents out 12 hectares for tulip cultivation. On the dairy farm, Rooker milks with 3 milking robots and uses outdoor pastures to graze. As soon as possible, the 200-headed herd goes into the meadow.
The fourth contestant Bert Swaps from Hengelo is 1 of the 2 new participants in the Roughage Tour 2020. He milks 110 cows with accompanying young stock. He does this on 60 hectares of sandy soil and sandy loam. The cultivation plan consists of 48 hectares of grassland, 9,5 hectares of maize and 2,5 hectares of fodder beets. Wissels is a fanatic pasturage and uses rotary standing pastures. "The cows like to go outside, because they know that they are offered a new plot every day," says Wissels. In addition to grazing, summer stable feeding is also used in the autumn to make the best possible use of the autumn grass. He will also start experimenting with herb-rich grassland this year. The plan is to expand this after the maize harvest for grazing next year.
Middle of the Netherlands
The fifth contestant Roel Assies is from Zeewolde and is participating again after last year's success. The mixed dairy and arable farm from Flevoland milks 80 cows on 100 ha of heavy clay soil. A 1 in 8 cropping plan is applied, consisting of: grass, maize, sugar beets, seed onions, tulips, ware potatoes and Brussels sprouts. The cultivation of the last 3 crops is done by renting out the land. The participant fanatically applies summer stable feeding. Because the roughage in the silage is already making good progress and making optimal use of the grass, he hopes to be able to start in April.
The sixth contestant Jan Henk Waterink is from Beerzerveld in Overijssel. He milks 120 cows on 40 hectares of valley land. His cultivation plan consists of 80% grassland supplemented with 8 hectares of silage maize.
South of the Netherlands
The seventh contestant Hans Schoenmakers is in Udenhout in North Brabant. The dairy farmer on the loamy sandy soil milks 120 cows with accompanying young stock. The acreage consists of 37 hectares of which 80% is grassland, 7.5 hectares of maize and 1.5 hectares of fodder beet. In addition to the challenge of growing the best possible roughage, Schoenmakers also face a completely different challenge, namely; milking robot. He hopes to be able to start on 8 March and says he is really looking forward to it.
The eighth participant from Sint-Oedenrode in Brabant is Joost van Nostrum. 25 cows are milked on the 100 ha dairy farm. The cultivation plan for this year consists of: 13 hectares of grass, 10 hectares of maize and 1,8 hectares of fodder beets. The soil type of the dairy farm is sandy soil and grazing is used. Furthermore, with a view to concentrate substitutes, field beans are grown, but this is not done on our own land.
The ninth contestant Silvain Kuster from Guttec oven in South Limburg is the second new participant for this year. There are 110 dairy cows and 80 young stock on the farm. The acreage consists of 41 hectares of grassland supplemented with a small hectare of silage maize. These crops are grown on loess soil. There are also several trial fields for Limagrain.
The tenth and last participant Ruben Marijnissen is from Newerkerk in the province of Zeeland. There are 140 dairy cows and 75 young stock on the farm. This year the participant has chosen to remove maize from the cultivation plan. The reason for this is to get more protein from our own land and to continue to build up organic matter in the soil. In addition to the more than 40 ha of grassland, another 2 ha of fodder beet is grown.
Erik van der Deure
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