Roughage tour Grass - Week 24
Precipitation affects the value of the second grass cut
Dairy farmers have been busy on the grassland over the past week, with the right weather conditions for optimal harvesting of the second cut of grass. The second cut is also with most participants in the Boerenbusiness Roughage Tour won. Time to compare the grass values. They differ quite a bit.
On Thursday 9 June, Bert Wissels in Hengelo (GD) started mowing the second cut. Dairy farmer Robert Welhuis from Wapse (Dr) also mowed that day. Subsequently, silage took place on Saturday 11 June.
At Silvain Kusters, the swath was mowed on 11 June and bales were pressed on Monday 13 June.
Below are the fresh grass analyzes of the mowed fields.
| Robert Welhuis in Wapse (Dr) | Bert Wissels in Hengelo (GD) | Silvain Kusters in Guttecoven (Li) | |
| Dry matter | 16.8 | 18.1 | 18.4 |
| WHO | 941 | 939.2 | 934.1 |
| Sugar | 127.4 | 96.3 | 115.8 |
| NDF | 505.1 | 497.7 | 519.4 |
| Protein | 166.9 | 185.2 | 145.2 |
| raw ash | 99.8 | 93.4 | 85.1 |
Difference in analysis
The analysis of the three fresh grass samples shows that the figures vary considerably. The values of VEM and NDF are fairly close to each other, while the values of the sugar and protein content differ greatly from each other. It can be seen that dairy farmer Bert Wissels has the lowest sugar content at 96,3. Wissels himself thinks that the cause may lie in the relatively larger proportion of clover on the plot, but he cannot say for sure. The protein content of 145.2 from Silvain Kusters' plot is the lowest. The reason Kusters states for this is that the crop has had too little moisture. The Limburg dairy farmer had expected this and has therefore mowed the crop on the swath and then presses bales. Before pressing, Kusters laid out the swaths with the rake to dry some extra.
Finally, on Monday 13 June, at the end of the afternoon, the bales were pressed with a moisture percentage of 33 to 37%. Kusters estimates that an average of 2.600 kg of dry matter has been extracted from one hectare. He's looking forward to a high protein third cut to pit over the first cut.
Reuben van der Maas
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