FIRST-CUT FERTILISER: Sow less and cut early or sow more and cut late?

The sunshine and warm weather finally arrived to most parts of the country in recent weeks, and farmers in many areas took the opportunity to get an application of fertiliser out on their ground for first-cut silage.

Some farmers in drier parts of the country even managed to take out a few surplus paddocks that had high grass covers for a cut of bale silage.

With winter feeding still continuing in many parts of the country, many farmers have yet to assess what course of action they will take as regards silage cutting this year.

Before coming to a decision, farmers should first assess their grass covers and the ground conditions.

Some silage ground may not have been grazed since last August or September and may have a high grass cover on it.

Where slurry stores are full and grass covers are high across the farm, it could well be a feasible option to mow and clear off grass covers now, securing silage while making ground available for a slurry application.

Where farmers are going to proceed with a fertiliser application, the general rule of thumb is that grass will use two units of nitrogen (N)/day between the application date and proposed harvest date.

However, where farmers are in doubt, it is always advisable to test grass for the presence of N before cutting.

Farmers have been well briefed on the importance of cutting silage early as well as the impact of heading out date and stem on silage feed quality.

The quality/quantity debate is also not a new discussion and most farmers know themselves the benefits of feeding good-quality silage over poor-quality silage.

Where slurry has been applied on silage ground already, establish what N volume has already been applied via slurry. The table available here will offer a guideline on the nutrient content already applied to silage ground.

Phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) requirements can be provided by early-season slurry applications.

Where this was not possible, a compound fertiliser containing P or K can be used – in line with soil analysis results.

If three bags (150kg) of calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) (27% N) is now applied per acre, it will be the end of the first week of June before farmers could consider taking their first cut.

Where lower rates of N are spread now, farmers may be able to secure an earlier cut of silage if the opportunity arises, which could be of more benefit to some farming systems.