Pre-season, Sam popped in to see a couple of local farmers...

A deer breeder near Aylesbury needed some advice with overseeding to improve productivity and legume content in the sward, so we’ve now created a bespoke mixture of grasses and clovers to be oversown this spring.

Sam also visited sheep, beef and turkey farmer, Chris Rummings, in Wiltshire, to inspect various leys, which  included the hybrid ryegrass ley (Mix B). It was sown last September, after maize, to provide high quality silage and grazing for the next four years. It established well and is looking good as we head into the spring. They also inspected a grass and clover silage ley sown four years ago. The grasses have faded, as expected, after last summer’s drought, but the milvus red clover (identified by the red stipules) is still going strong after four years. Sam gave advice on sowing a multi-species sward after it’s ploughed up.