Roughage tour Roel Assies
More yield through arable cultivation
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 Roel Assies, dairy farmer and arable farmer in Zeewolde (Flevoland).
| Roel Assies |
|
Location: Zeewolde, Flevoland Surface company: 100 hectares Soil type: Sea clay, 55% silt Livestock: 80 dairy cows and 60 young cattle Production: 9700kg 4.50% fat, 3.80% protein ration: Grass, maize, straw & corngold Current variety choice: Grass: HAVERA 4 with red clover maize: LG31.205 |
The first spring operations have started, how are the plots?
On February 22, 40m3 of cattle slurry was applied to the grassland plots. Last Wednesday (24 March) the fertilizer was applied, 275kg Grasplus14000. This is a similar product to KAS sulfur. The maize field was plowed under good conditions and well frozen. In contrast to last year, the plot is in good condition. The expectation is to be able to prepare the plot for sowing without too much work.
What will your strategy be for this year?
"We will start with the maize land towards the end of April. The soil is rotated before it is fertilized with 55m3 cattle slurry. After this, the soil is rotated again and the maize seed goes into the ground, in combination with a phosphate-containing fertilizer. Sowing is done in May. no exception for us and we are never the first to do this.”
“As soon as grass growth starts, we start with summer stable feeding. We use a quarter of the total grass stock for summer barn feeding and the other three quarters for silage. With the silage we aim for a grass silage of 40-45% dry matter."
What will you be doing differently this growing season?
“Not much will change this year. Apart from the drought, last year was a good growing season. In addition to being a dairy farmer, we are also arable farmers and grow grass and maize crops in an arable manner. This way of growing results in high yields. Last year, 20 tons of dry matter of maize was harvested with 36% dry matter and more than 400 starch. We control weeds ourselves and do not hesitate to irrigate the maize and grassland.”
You participate in various pilots, can you tell us more about that?
''On the maize land plot, a number of strips are fertilized with 20m3 less. Later in the season, a targeted row fertilization is applied based on soil samples. In this way, the plant receives the fertilizer it needs at that moment. Another pilot into nitrogen losses fits in nicely with this. In this test, nitrogen is measured in the drains and an image is formed of the leaching and losses. That way I know what the plant is using and where I can make improvements.”
Finally, a trial is underway into an integrated approach to ammonia and methane. There are various measuring equipment in the barn to measure the ammonia and methane.”
This year you will again participate in the roughage tour, what do you expect from it?
''I hope that this year it will be more interactive and that we can visit a number of demo plots with the group. This way we can get to know each other better and interesting discussions can arise. In this way, such a roughage tour group app also comes to life. I also hope for more feedback and discussion within the group about the results of the fresh grass and maize samples.”
Erik van der Deure
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.