First analyzes are there: grass of excellent quality

The first fresh grass analyzes show that the grass is of excellent quality. Thanks to the sunny weather of the past week and the still relatively cold nights, the sugar content in the grass is high for this time of year. The crude protein is relatively low. On average, the grass contains 1050 VEM, 211 g RE and 212 g sugars per kg dry matter. The dry matter content of the grass is high at over 24%.

This is apparent from a large number of grass samples that Agrifirm takes every year to gain insight into the development of the feed value of the fresh grass. The rations containing meadow grass are calculated on the basis of these figures, so that an excess/shortage of protein in the ration is prevented.

The first analyzes show that the sugar content is high on average for the time of year and the crude protein content is low. It is logical that this is related to the weather of the past few weeks. For the rest, it is striking that in the south and center of the country, the grass is more digestible than in the northern Netherlands. The dry matter percentage is also high for the time of year. On average, this is just below 20%, but due to the dry period it is far above that. 

Fresh grass analyses

Due to the beautiful weather of last week, the soil temperature has risen in many places, but due to the dry conditions of last week, the grass is barely growing. Also for next week it is expected that - as a result of the predicted low temperatures - grass growth will not really get going. Temperatures only seem to rise slightly towards the end of next week. It doesn't look like it will be very early spring.

Ronald Smit

Intern at the Boerenbusiness Roughage tour

r.smith@boerenbusiness. Nl

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