Roughage tour week 38- grass
Raking through the grass between the showers
Sufficient rain has fallen throughout the Netherlands in recent weeks. Fortunately it has been dry for a few days now and they are making good use of that in Sint-Oedenrode, Aartswoud and Zeewolde to get their fifth and even sixth cut of the land. The roughage tour participants keep it busy, but don't complain. In addition, the first mushrooms have also reappeared.
With Roel Assies in Zeewolde (Flevoland) the crowds are in full swing. Not only is the fifth cut being baled today (Friday 23 September), but the maize was also ready to be ensiled. Because of the crowds in the yard, Assies has deliberately chosen not to open the pit and to go for bales. According to him, it will not be a very heavy cut, but more than the fourth cut. The amount of grass is therefore certainly not disappointing. Assies still expects a sixth cut this year. Unfortunately not for all plots, because tulips will be grown on one of the plots next year.
Also Joost van Nostrum in Sint-Oedenrode (North Brabant) makes good use of the few dry days, during which he can mow a nice fifth cut. According to Joost, the fifth cut will be the same as in previous years in terms of yield. He is also busy reseeding his maize field with Havera 1 with red clover for permanent pasture next year. In addition, Van Nostrum has been busy sowing the green manure on the other plots. He opted for Italian ryegrass, so that next spring it might be possible to harvest another grass cut before the maize is sown again.
In Aartswoud Frank Rooker also not be left behind. In Noord-Holland, the sixth cut was mowed the day before yesterday (Wednesday 21 September) and sown the day after. Today it will be chopped. "The yield was quite short on some plots, but it was quite good on other plots," says Rooker, who is satisfied with the quality of the cut.
In Guttecoven (Limburg) near Silvain Kuster it is good to see that autumn has started. Here are already the first mushrooms between the green grass, a typical image for this time of year. A study by WUR shows that mushrooms can make fungi (oyster mushroom and shiitake) and feed products such as straw more digestible. The fungus takes the lignin from the product without losing nutrients. Whether the fungi also have a good effect in fresh grass has not been investigated. Kusters is looking forward to a nice fourth cut, because the third cut was quite disappointing. However, he suspects that it will be difficult to dry this cut properly. "We have to wait for dry days, what beautiful dry days."
Manon van der Meer
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