Herbal leys can make a significant contribution to beef output
Results from a five-year trial, carried out by scientists at Reading University, confirms that dry matter output from diversified swards will out-perform that achieved by a perennial ryegrass (PRG) leys – receiving 250kg of nitrogen (N) per annum – three years after all the swards were established.
Significantly, the diversified leys did not receive bagged nitrogen at any time.This was one of the key findings delivered to delegates participating in the recent European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) ‘Focus on Farmers’ webinar series, hosted by AgriSearch.
Reading University’s Dr. David Humphreys also confirmed that cattle on a grazing trial performed as well on the herbal leys as they did on the PRG sward.