Devon County Show - Grassland demonstration at Devon County Showground

Grassland demonstration at Devon County Showground

The Devon County Show is, almost literally, going back to its grassroots, in a joint venture with Mole Valley Farmers which is certain to become a major farming talking point at next year’s show (May 17-19).

Mole Valley agronomists have established a trial plot on the Showground to demonstrate to farmers coming to the Show how they can grow more and better grass for their livestock.

It is part of MVF’s ‘Forage for Profit’ initiative, which is geared to improving the quality of home-grown forage. The trial plot has been divided into six smaller plots, each one demonstrating a different aspect of quality grass production, from the benefits of soil testing, through re-seeding, fertiliser and lime applications and weed control, to monitoring grass growth and grazing to the correct height.

MVF’s Graham Ragg explained that the programme had already seen a marked improvement in grass quality: “When we started Forage for Profit three years ago, the average metabolisable energy (ME) content of the 3,000 silage samples we analysed was 10.3. 

“Given that some of the samples were coming in at over 12, it meant that some must have been below 9, which is the least a cow needs to keep herself going, let alone to produce a worthwhile amount of milk.

“By giving advice through the programme, we were able to lift that average to 10.8 in the first year, and then again to 11.1 in the current year, which is much more like it.

“What we are hoping to achieve with the demonstration plots is not only to interest more farmers in the initiative, and so make an even bigger difference to grass quality, but also explain to the general public just how important a crop grass is to farmers in Devon.”

Devon County Show Secretary Ollie Allen said that the trial plot was taking the Show back to its roots, in the best way possible.

“This is the sort of thing that the Devon County Show was set up to do in the first place – to demonstrate best practice to farmers and so improve agricultural productivity across the county.

“It shows that this is still a valid role, albeit one brought bang up to date by demonstrating the very latest techniques of growing high quality grass.

“We are delighted to welcome Mole Valley back to the Show, and I’m certain that the demonstration plots will be of huge interest to the public and farmers alike.”

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