The best way to look after grassland is to treat it as a crop, just like a field of wheat. But grassland agronomy does not have to be complicated, certainly compared to wheat!

Firstly, set your objectives for the field in question. Are there any local challenges, for example is it really sandy? Knowing the detail will help whittle down the right selection from the many species and different varieties available to suit.

Soil health is important in grassland – aim for P & K indices at 2 and pH of 6.2 or above especially where legumes are being used. Don’t forget the importance of soil structure too.

Sward management really depends on the species and use. Be kind to the sward in the early months of its life – investing in good establishment will pay back over the lifespan. Simple tips - whether grazing or silaging, don’t let it get too short. Leaving some green material will help the grass to recover more quickly, you don’t really want to go below 4cm/1500kg DM/ha. If you are sowing legume or herb species you would want to increase that height.

Remember to feed the grass relative to crop offtake, one tonne of grass dry matter can remove over 7kg Phosphorus and 27kg Potassium and with Italian ryegrass swards capable of producing over 20t DM/ha as an example that can soon add up! The AHDB Nutrient Management guide Section 3 is a good tool for making a nutrient management plan.

Finally, make sure you regularly monitor your swards, walk them regularly throughout the season so you can see any changes that are happening and address any issues. Obviously keep on top of soil sampling and soil structures. Follow our good grass guide to find out more.

What are the challenges when developing a rotation which contains both arable and grassland/forage crops?

The main challenge is the lack of livestock in arable areas; that makes for a lack of infrastructure to return livestock to farms. Introducing livestock into arable rotations will involve a lot of time, thinking and planning.

Be specific about what problem or problems you are trying to overcome and then very carefully consider how you are going to reintroduce grass and forage. There are an increasing number of young and new entrants with 'flying flocks' who don’t have their own land and are happy to take on short term lets and organisations such as Carbon Dating which can help connect farmers.

There are also opportunities that don’t involve livestock - the many environmental schemes, growing crops for AD plants or to be sold off farm to livestock producers elsewhere. 

But the really great benefit of grass and forage is that there are so many species, and varieties within species that we can utilise there really is a solution for everyone.

What is the research currently being carried out on grass and forage crops, and what new innovations are we likely to see in this sector?

Our work in research and development comes in two forms. Varietal breeding is the most important – we are just as focused on new varieties as cereal breeders, and always striving to develop new varieties that offer improvements in characteristics such as yield, nutritional quality and disease resistance.

Then there is the secondary work – the development of products and species synergy for use on farm, for example developing the most effective and suitable mixtures of various varieties and/or species for specific uses and locations.

Emerging trends to add to key characteristics such as yield and quality is the identification and isolation of traits that we can use to build-in greater tolerance of extreme weather conditions, such as flooding or drought, or forage that offers farmers better nutrient-use efficiency. We are also looking at varieties that provide a broader range of nutritional benefits – higher trace element content, for example – or varieties and species with anti-parasitic properties.

Increasingly we are accounting not only for the ever-changing legislative and support system demands but also the global demand for much more biodiverse and sustainable production.  In our case, that is looking at how we can use grass and forage crops to reduce inputs, food miles, greenhouse gas emissions, while improving carbon capture, protecting soils and promoting healthy and diverse whole farm ecosystems.

It is really satisfying to see that message coming through – our customer base is becoming increasingly diverse. As well as livestock producers and the equestrian market , we are seeing much greater interest from arable growers, vineyards and others who want to ‘invest’ in the power of good grass and grassland, which is great!

Other benefits of grass - Grassland can be used effectively to control grassweed problems such as blackgrass.

Black-grass is the inevitable arable headache! Every farmer knows that there is no single solution and of course blackgrass is a survivalist which can create an awful lot of seeds per plant. But there are two schools of thought to help manage black-grass. One is to sow grass leys at a much higher rate, say 17 – 18kg/acre (42/44kg/ha) and include in the mix a high diploid percentage and perennial species. The higher plant populations will smother the blackgrass and outcompete it.

Alternatively, you can sow a sward but allow the blackgrass to germinate and then cut the sward before the blackgrass sets seed. It is not for the faint-hearted - it requires attention to detail, frequent monitoring of the field and frequent cutting. A single cut in June for hay is definitely NOT the system we would be looking at here. It is worth looking at some work presented by AHDB, who showed that done well, this approach can reduce seed burdens by up to 90% over a few years – but we would recommend using this approach for 3 – 4 years to be most beneficial.