Welcome to Profit from Grass

We have teamed up with DairyCo to work with nine farmers on ten farms in England, Wales and Scotland to measure grass growth and quality as the season progresses.

We will present the data each fortnight, along with comment from farmers and grazing experts on how to make the most of the grass that is there.

DairyCo extension officer, Piers Badnell, says: “The farmers picked for this season’s measurements are examples of excellent grassland management. The aim is demonstrate the true potential of grazed grass if managed well.”

Samples

Growth rates will be measured using a rising plate meter and samples tested in a laboratory for quality – crude protein, metabolisable energy and dry matter.

“This means other producers can benchmark themselves and take steps to improve their own grassland,” says Mr Badnell. Looking at last year’s results it can be seen that the average ME of the samples farms, chosen for excellent management, was 12. This is about 1.5ME more than the average.

“It means that with a DM intake of 12kgDM per head of grazed grass there is a difference of three and a half litres of milk from grazing between excellent and average (using a standard litre of milk at 4 per cent fat and 3.3 per cent protein).

“Just tot that up on a herd scale and it’s easy to see that there’s money to be made by improving that grass. Even if you only achieve an extra 0.75MJ ME per 12kgDM intake, that is 1.7 litres of milk, and 150 cows at 1.7 litres per day at 24ppl is £428 for the week.”

Meet the nine farmers here.

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