Hafod Project Update - Final Update
Key results:
- Climate and environmental changes proving it difficult to introduce new practices
- Planning ahead key for tackling challenges
Background:
The primary aim of this project is to investigate a way of reducing reliance on bought in protein used in the concentrate for dairy cows. Milk buyers are increasingly demanding the production of more sustainable milk without the use of soya and other imported raw materials. While aiming to produce high quality silage, increasing the forage protein level further would mean that less protein supplementation is required to maintain winter milk output. The aim is to grow a crop of field beans and whole-crop harvest it, ensiling it at the same time as second cut grass silage.
Purpose of the work:
- Grow and ensile a crop of spring beans to increase protein content of winter forage for dairy cows
- Establishing spring beans as a break crop in a reseeding rotation will also lend benefits in decreasing the weed burden and the need for chemical herbicides.
- With the legume crop also being able to fix nitrogen both for its own use and the following crop, this will result in a potential reduction of artificial nitrogen coming into the system.
What we did:
- Planting Date: 24 May
- Seed rate: 250kg/ha
- Field preparation: Disced
- Sowing method: Vicon Air Drill
- Seed variety: Capri beans
- Aimed to harvest as wholecrop
Figure 1 & 2: Vicon Air Drill planting the Peas & Beans seed mix.
Outcomes:
- Due to the lateness of sowing, weather challenges and some weevil issues with the seeds, the field has not been a great success with only a couple of plants per metre established. Therefore, the original idea of evau;lating if bio-chemical controls work on chocolate spots in spring beans was not possible under this Try Out Fund.
- To rectify this and not lose forage for the winter, following the advice of their Agronomist, Tim Parton, the James’ decided to put clover in. Clover is still an important and viable protein source, therefore, heifers were lightly grazing the field over the Winter months.
- The field was firstly cultivated with discs to destroy the small number of beans and weeds present, followed by a cambridge roller before sowing with Westerwold and large leafed white clover mix, still obtaining a forage crop despite the beans failing this year.
- Clover has established well, and following Nutritionist Luppo Diepenbroek’s advice, held thirty, ten month old heifers for two weeks in January, as part of rotational grazing system before conditions deteriorated. The grass was analysed before being grazed as seen in figure 3. Liam and Annie James hope to return the cattle to graze in the Spring, or take an early cut of forage.
Figure 3: Fresh grass sample analysis results
Liam and Annie James - ‘Our trial goes to show the difficulties involved in trialling different farming practices. We had hoped to grow more protein on our farm to reduce the costs and environmental impact of our farming system. However in a poor growing season we were unable to establish a decent crop. It is possible that we can still grow these crops in more marginal areas, but we need to make decisions based on ground conditions and growing season to avoid economic losses. We feel we are dealing with changing weather systems and adverse effects of climate change. We feel we as farmers are part of the solution, but the economic sustainability of the farm business needs to remain paramount to this conversation.’