owners would like to increase grass in interesting field options other than spraying

[lizard orchid]

Dear All,
Beenn to an interesting site in Warwickshire where owners want to increase grass in field for hay/grazing. The problem is they would like to spray to control vast population of yellow rattle. The field also contains red clover, cats ear, etc but I could find nothing rare. They have had horse grazing in the past on the site. They did not take hay off field last year. Is there any options so we can perswade them not to spray. It is an interesting little field.
Any ideas greatly recieved.

Brian Laney, Northamptonshire.

[Dorts]

Hi Brian,
Bit of a long-winded answer I'm afraid, but hopefully you'll get the drift.

I have 6 'native breed' horses and although they run free, I feed them some hay everyday, it's good for cleaning the gut, especially when the grass is very 'lush'. I don't make my own hay, I have to buy it in.

Horses require very good quality hay, and in my opinion 'meadow hay' is the best, particularly what I call 'thin' hay; that is hay that has not been boosted by any fertilisers etc. This kind of hay is not only better for horses, (in my opinion), but keeps far longer, because it drys quicker and more thouroughly when being made; and also because it contains less nitrates.
Hay made from fertilised grass usually containg more moisture, takes longer to dry and therefore tends to 'go-off' far more quickly with a greater danger of mildew forming in the bales.

So, given the option, despite the obvious desire for a larger crop, I would love to have such a meadow on my farm for all the reasons above.
Dorts.

[Adam Cheeseman]

To reduce the amount of yellow rattle, an annual, what they need to do is to cut the area when the rattle is in flower to prevent seed setting. This should be effective for a significant reduction the following year and consequently the grass cover should start to increase.

In addition, hay from a wildflower meadow is more valuable as a hay crop than from a meadow containing mostly or only grass. This is especially the case with horse racing stables as the wildflower hay is nutritionally richer.

Cheers,

Adam

[Cowgirl]

Funnily enough I was discussing grass for cattle/sheep & grass for horses with hubbies boss the other night. He grows it commercially for mostly racehorses so it has to be top notch quality. In fact the way he was describing mixes & grass type, he was very much like those TV chefs & wino experts. He's very enthusiastic about his crops.

He told me that for horses it should be stemmy grasses rather than blade & he likes to add timothy to the mix as it provides a nice sweetness.

I can't help re to spray or not to spray, but you could try & persuade them that a proper undersow of hay mix would be better for their hores.

Dorts nails it really.

[lizard orchid]

Dear All,
Thankyou for all the replies folks. Will pass this on and will let you know what they plan to do.

Brian Laney, Northamptonshire.

[Johnny Redgate]

I have exactly this sort of hay meadows - not very species-rich but bursting with yellow rattle causing a reduction in grass crop to about 50% maybe less. I aim for an increase in species-richness but this is so slow that I have started planting in appropriate wildflower species. I have sheep and horses so try to make good quality hay and although the yield does not have to be high the yellow rattle can get to be a problem. If I can get 90 - 100 small bales/acre I'm happy.

I try to keep the yellow rattle under control by grazing the meadows rather than hay cutting every other year or so but it is still increasing because hay cutting in July is just brilliant at promoting it. Grazing hard then topping the ungrazed flowers every other year might do the trick. Just cutting early would work but if it's too early to make hay there is the problem of what to do with the cut grass. Silage/haylage making would be an option providing the meadow is not full of molehills. I cannot cut before late July because of my agri-environment scheme agreement.

I would imagine that effective herbicides are likely to be broad-spectrum broad-leaved plant killers so will kill most of the non-grass species to the detriment of the wildlife. Wildflower meadow hay is supposed to be nutritionally richer in terms of minerals - it will certainly have less protein and carbohydrate than good quality grass hay.

[lizard orchid]

Thankyou for all the useful information that will be passed on. Brilliant.

Brian Laney.