Hello Again,
David from Devenish here.
The weather has finally changed and grass growth has gone into over drive, our thoughts are now turing to summer grazing and making silage. Grass growth has been recorded at 67 kg DM/ha this week (w/c 14th May) and is predicted to reach 84 kg DM/ha. Taking grass samples can help inform you of the feed value of your grass for grazing and also help in the decision of when to cut silage, this allows for the optimum use of grass for grazing and silage making.
At time of year we are taking samples for silage, particularly looking at nitrate N and the sugar values in the grass. These are both important as they have a very big effect on how the grass is preserved for the following winter.
Firstly I am going to go through the correct procedure for taking the sample, which is very similar to taking a soil sample. You will need a clean bucket to put the grass into.
According to a paper by Andrew Dale et al, 2016 from AFBI, the sooner you can get the sample to the lab the better. In the study they looked at the effect different ways of sampling had on the results. They looked at the following ways:
All samples were analysed fresh using near infra red spectronomy (NIRS) for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) (sugars), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and metabolising energy (ME).
I take that we should take our grassland samples early in the week. For testing sugars the best time to do it is at 3 pm in the afternoon. This leaves us with a trade-off for getting the right sugar content, but having to store the sample overnight. I recommend that you store the grass sample in the fridge or freezer overnight and post first class the next morning to the lab. You should squeeze out as much as the air as possible and wrap with elastic bands to keep the air out. Remember when taking samples, use the same procedure and lab so that your results from year to year are comparable.
For silage samples the main parameters you want to get tested are nitrate N and sugar content. Other tests that you can get done as well are, dry matter, crude protein, fibre content, sugars and buffer capacity.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss grass sampling and how to do it. If you have questions about managing your grass quality or about getting involved in our Soil Improvement Programme, please contact us.
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