Establishing diverse swards can improve the resilience of grazing platforms. However, the un-quantified effect of increased sward diversity on milk yield and quality is a potential financial risk for dairy farmers. Andrew Brewer is a pasture-based dairy farmer with 500 Jersey cross cows in Cornwall. He wanted to know whether growing herbal leys instead of the more conventional ryegrass/clover mixed sward, would affect milk yield and constituents. Andrew will split his herd, and monitor the difference between milk produced by cows grazing a rye grass sward, and cows grazing a herbal ley / diverse sward.
We’ll be talking to Andrew about the FNZ – Innovative Farmers trial, his experiences of growing diverse swards, and finding out why he believes strongly that soil and animal health are central to maintaining the productivity of his farming system.
We'll then open the conversation to the group.
