Cornwal Uchaf Project Update - July 2024
The forage crop mix of Italian ryegrass, stubble Turnips and hybrid rape failed to establish due to weather conditions in year 1, therefore additional fields were brought into the project to establish alternative options for lamb finishing. Two acres of the original 1 trial field was sprayed off with roundup and rotovated by a local contractor. Redstart hybrid brassica was sown on the 6 June 2024, which is an interspecies of Kale and rape used for high-energy grazing for cattle and sheep.
The further two fields will be:
- red clover and white clover ley alongside ryegrass
- herbal ley mixture, which will also be part of the pan Wales project.
These were sown on the 21 May and the following field operations were undertaken on both fields -
- Ploughed
- Limed and power harrowed
- Chain harrowed
- Calcifert Lime and triple 16 fertiliser was applied.
- Rolled
- Drilled
- Rolled again
The plots (Figure 1) have been seeded as follows:
Plot 1 - Herbal ley which contains a total of 14 species, including Perennial Ryegrass, Timothy, Meadow Fescue, Red and White Clover, Ecotain, Sainfoin, Chicory and Lucerne sown at a rate of 14.7 kg/ac (36.4kg/ha).
Plot 2 - Conventional grass ley which contains Intermediate and Late Perennial Ryegrasses, Clover Blend and Timothy sown at a rate of 14.7 kg/ac (36.4kg/ha).
Plot 3 - Grassmaster HS Pro nitro seed mix at a seed rate of 12.5kg/acre (30.9kg/ha).
Plot 4 - Redstart seed at a seed rate of 2.5kg/acre (6.2kg /ha).
Figure 1. Map of the plots at Cornwal Uchaf
