Roughage tour Silvain Kuster
'Tetraploid grass is the future for me'
De Boerenbusiness Roughage Tour follows 10 plots of maize and grass spread across the Netherlands this year. Every week we ask 1 of the participating dairy farmers about his vision and approach for the upcoming growing season. This week it is Silvain Kusters, dairy farmer in Guttecoven (Limburg).
| Silvain Kuster |
| Location: Guttecoven, Limburg Surface company: 41 hectares of grassland, 1 hectare of maize Soil type: loess soil Livestock: 110 dairy cows and 80 young cattle Production: 9500kg 4.80% 3.65% ration: Grass silage, silage maize, proti+ and protein mixture Current variety choice: Grass: LG HAVERA 4 & 6, Maize: DairyMaize energy excellent |
The growing season has started, how are the plots doing?
“It is still quiet with the land work, but the plots are in satisfactory condition. In the last week of February, 35 m3 of slurry was applied. I postponed the spreading of fertilizer until it gets warmer and we have had the worst rainfall. The lawn that participates in the roughage tour has had beets and has been sown with LG HAVERA 4 & 6.”
What will your strategy be for this year?
''I always aim for short field periods to keep losses as small as possible. A field period of up to 24 hours is the goal, but not an end in itself. All factors have to be in line and that has worked out well in the past year. The harvest requires control at the moment, so we will see how the coming season will be."
''The use of silage agents has become a regular feature here. It is not cheap, but in my opinion gives a bit of certainty to the quality of the product. We are on good fertile ground, from which we can grow high quality roughage. We have to make the most of that, so that we can keep the costs of concentrates down.”
What will you be doing differently this growing season?
“This year we are going to have the grass driven home again by loader wagons. Last year everything was chopped, but that became too much of a cost. Today's loader wagons cut so well that the costs no longer outweigh the difference in cutting."
''For Limagrain I have tried many different grass mixtures in recent years and gained so much experience and knowledge. The regular BG-3 mixtures are therefore outdated, I think. The tetraploid varieties have evolved so much over the years that I only want tetra varieties or a combination where tetra has the upper hand.”
“Otherwise, not much will change this growing season. We have greatly improved roughage cultivation in recent years. We pit the first and second cut on top of each other, because these 2 cuts fit well together. With the first cut we often achieve 1.000 VEM and this year with 82,6% VCOS and an NDF digestibility of 80,5%. Because the first cut is a bit on the fast side, it fits well with the somewhat textured second cut."
What is the reason that you participate in the Roughage Tour and what do you expect from it?
''I have had demo fields for Limagrain for years and I find the associated knowledge sharing very useful. I hope to get that feeling with the roughage tour. If corona allows it again later and it is not too busy with the land work, I hope for more interaction with the group. It's been a while since I've been out there and I'm really looking forward to it. ''
Erik van der Deure
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