Trends from 12 years of grass growth data
The Forage for Knowledge programme has now entered its 12th year of data collection.
Across Great Britain, 31 rotational grazing contributor farms measure their grass weekly with a rising plate meter and submit their grass growth figures.
Using this data, we provide a weekly update on grass growth and quality to allow farmers to compare grass growth, dry matter (DM), metabolisable energy (ME) and crude protein figures across different regions, enabling them to benchmark against other farms on an interactive dashboard.
Shropshire farmer David Lee joined Forage for Knowledge as a contributor from the start, having been one of the early converters to rotational paddock grazing 25 years ago.
David said: “If you manage it right, grass quality doesn’t vary through the season; it is 12 ME all through. Since going into paddocks with the longest grass, we have grown more grass. The farm averages 17 t DM/ha, and the paddocks don’t vary hugely, much to people’s surprise.”
Forage for Knowledge also show trends. Grass production in 2013 was 11.9 t DM/ha across contributors. To date in 2021, grass production is 6.6 t DM/ha due to the slow spring and an early period of dry weather, while Shropshire contributors are averaging 10.8 t DM/ha to date.
Siwan Howatson, AHDB Dairy senior scientist, environment
