'The pasture must be attractive for the cow'

De Boerenbusiness Roughage Tour follows 10 plots of maize and grass spread across the Netherlands this year. High time to take stock of the situation with the 10 participating dairy farmers. This time it is Frank Rooker, dairy farmer in Aartswoud (North Holland).

How has the season gone so far?
"We started mowing on time this year. We mowed the first cut of grass on 11 May in the rain. But we managed to bring the grass inside a few days later under good conditions. After that, we managed quite well to stick to the schedule of mowing every 4 weeks. The protein content in the silages is a bit lower compared to previous years, but given the course of the past season I am satisfied."

"We sown the maize quite early against the advice. The temperature was on the low side in the beginning, so it took a long time for the maize to surface. During that time we also had a few heavy showers. plants have disappeared, but the maize is in good condition on the rest of the plots. The weed pressure was high this year. Partly because the maize only started growing late, the weeds started to proliferate for a while. But with 1 spraying we managed to maize clean again."

You apply grazing to your farm. How did that go this year?
"We milk with 3 robots, so we have to make the pasture attractive and keep it so that the cow wants to go out on its own. In the spring the cows liked to go outside and it ran great. But as the season progressed we noticed that we had more trouble We had to get the cows out into the meadow. That was especially the case on a plot of old grassland. On another plot that was sown 4 years ago, things went better. There was too much roughbeam in the old grassland. We therefore treated that plot with "A shovel and the rake have been adjusted a little deeper to get rid of and remove the roughbeam. Rye grass was sufficiently present, so overseeding was not necessary. The ryegrass is now getting air again and the meadow will be tastier again."

You mentioned 'growing roughage in a more arable way' as a strategy for this year. How did you implement that this year?
"By arable cultivation I mean working more systematically. I don't occasionally walk through the meadow to see if it is already possible to mow or if some nitrogen still needs to be added. We are trying to establish a fixed schedule for mowing and fertilising, for example. Depending on the circumstances, we can of course make adjustments, but this way you have something to hold on to and you are less likely to be faced with surprises."

How do you experience the roughage tour?
"It is especially nice to see how others are doing it. A lot of information is exchanged and it is nice to see how other farmers are doing and what choices and considerations they make.

Jurphaas Lugtenburg

He is a market specialist in grains and other agricultural commodities at DCA Market Intelligence. He also focuses on onions, potatoes, and roughage. Jurphaas also runs an arable farm in Voorne-Putten (South Holland).

j.lugtenburg @boerenbusiness. Nl

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