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Early Bite from Apres Maize
“We always grow some Apres Maize,” says John Peters, who farms 180 acres at Carreglefn on Anglesey. “Its very early and very aggressive and much cheaper than having to buy in big bale silage in the spring when forage is in short supply.”
John broadcast 18 acres of Apres Maize Italian Ryegrass, after an old grass ley, in mid-September 2001 and was able to start zero grazing in mid-March. “We cut it every other day through to mid-April, when the land was dry enough to turn the cows out,” he explains. “Our consultant said it was the best grass he had seen.”
In 2002 the ley, which will be kept down for a second year, produced 8-10 big bales/acre of fresh grass for zero grazing, 2 cuts of silage and mid-summer grazing.
“We try to do some reseeding every year,” explains John, who feeds his 8,000 litre Holstein and Blended Red and White Shorthorn herd exclusively on grass and silage supplemented with screened maize gluten pellets and Action Dairy Phos minerals.
“Apres Maize is very flexible,” says John, who also uses it as a cover crop for longer term leys. “We put 5 or 6 kg in the spinner, it helps protect the new grass and gives early bite in the first two years,” he explains.
