Selection of Leading Varieties is the key
A huge amount of research has been invested in the breeding of grass varieties and employing the latest production and management practices to maximise the returns from these newer improved varieties. For the past number of years, Teagasc in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and the Marine has published a full listing of all the various grass varieties in the 2022 Pasture Profit Index (PPI). This allocates a monetary value to how each variety scores under a set of key headings and ranks the total.
“Mid-West Farm Nutrition operates the very simple policy of offering the leading varieties available on the PPI at the most competitive prices. At the present time, the highest proportion of these leading varieties have come from Germinal Seeds. Germinal Seeds have Abergain and Aberchoice, the leading tetraploid and diploid varieties in the PPI and these have now been joined by late heading tetraploids Gracehill and Ballintoy and Aberbann and Ballyvoy as leading new diploids
In previous years, we were able to offer simple mixes of the top varieties for maximum sward improvement but we won’t be able to continue this due to supply issues. In order to overcome the shortfall this year, we now also include these newer varieties on the PPI to ensure that you get the best possible combination of varieties for your 2022 reseeding programme as follows:
Mid-West Extend
2.00 AberGain
2.00 Gracehill
2.00 Ballintoy
2.00 AberChoice
3.00 AberBann
0.60 Clover
11.6kg
Mid-West Extend Hi-Clover
2.00 AberGain
2.00 Gracehill
1.60 Ballintoy
2.00 AberChoice
2.50 AberBann
1.50 Clover
11.6kg
Benefits of Reseeding
- Increased sward Output of 3t DM/Ha (15 – 25%) over old swards
- Improved spring & autumn growth from new grass varieties
- Up to 8% higher milk output per hectare simply from higher quality grass
- increase the number of days at grass.
- Improved regrowth following grazing/cutting.
- Superior response to Nitrogen application (+5kg DM/kg N)
- Improved silage quality and reduced overall silage requirement
- Improved milk and beef output from better utilised grass
- Improved dairy and beef profitability
- Full payback form reseeding cost within 2 years
Specialised Mixes for More Sustainable Grassland Farming
The urgency with which we need to steer grassland farming away from the generation of harmful emissions towards a longer term environmentally sustainable system cannot be overestimated. This will involve increased use of Nitrogen fixing clover and other climate smart forage species. This dramatic switch is already happening on Irish farms and is being accommodated by our own Mid-West Hi-clover Extend and the Germinal Multi-Species and Clover based mixes.
Mid-West Farm Nutrition is an approved retailer in the Multi-Species Sward Measure (MSSM) 2022 and the Red Clover Silage Measure (RCSM) 2022 operated by the Department of Agriculture Food & the Marine.
Other Top 5 mixes available from Germinal Seeds
Top 5 Extend
Top 5 Grazing
Top 5 Silage
Top 5 Difficult Soils Mix
Stitching in Mix
Multi-Species Mixture
Red Clover Intensive Silage