XtraBlatt Issue 01-2023

The forage wagon
delivers fresh grass to
one side of the feed
passage, then turns
around and delivers it
to the other side on its
return.
The economic
benefits
of feeding
fresh
grass are
obvious.
André Albring,
farmer
In 2022, the Albring
farm took delivery of a
pre-production mower
model with cross
feeding auger.
“I can’t use a tedder if I want to feed fresh grass
and I set the bar very high when it comes to forage
cleanliness, which is why I need an auger. But
here too, Krone was very flexible and provided me
with a pre-production model at short notice. So
our harvesting method proved a win-win for both
sides,” he adds with satisfaction.
Stepped cuts
On the subject of cut-and-carry forage quality, André
Albring raises the question of cutting height.
For him, 8cm is the absolute lower limit, ideally
10cm. There are two reasons for this; firstly, there
is less risk of forage contamination and secondly,
regrowth starts sooner. When it comes to blade
length, he aims for 14–15cm wherever possible, and
maximum 22cm. In his experience, forage intake is
best at this length. If the grass inadvertently grows
taller, he prefers to ensile it.
The cutting cycle can be very challenging in Ihorst
because the soil conditions are so variable – they
have everything from peaty subsoil and peaty sand
to sand and smaller plots with “heavier” soils. “If all
conditions are met, the grass continually regrows
in such a way that the field looks like a flight of
steps and after around 20 days we go back to step
one and start all over,” he outlines the optimal
situation. Fertiliser is also applied in a similar
patchwork fashion. The slurry is separated in the
farm’s own plant and some of the solid fraction is
used as litter, while the liquid fraction is spread on
the grassland with their own tanker and trailing
shoe injector according to the cutting cycle.
And how does harvesting fresh grass fit in with
the overall grassland management system? Grass
silage is still a major component of the feed ration.
A quick look at the farm’s figures helps to illustrate
the situation: the Albrings farm around 230ha of
land altogether, of which 50ha is arable, mainly
down to maize. Of the 180ha of grassland, 25ha
can only be used extensively due to the peaty
soil; here the Albrings take the first cut for hay
for their calves and a second cut for silage or cutand-carry.
In the spring they use around 35ha of
the remaining 155ha of grassland for cut-and-carry
in the spring and take a first and second cut silage
from the rest.
The proportion of cut-and-carry increases significantly
in the summer months, and here the
amount of rainfall is an important factor. Too
much water is particularly problematic, because
it makes the land more difficult to drive on and
also impairs the forage quality. On the other hand,
too little rainfall, as was the case in the summer
of 2022, can leave them with no fresh grass at all.
“Although that’s unfortunate, it’s not usually a
disaster. Where possible, we try to ensure that we
always have enough forage for at least one and a
half years – so we can easily ride out shortages,”
explains André Albring.
If you’ve been paying attention and are wondering
how you can feed and maintain the performance
of 480 cows plus offspring – 900 animals in total
– from 230ha of land, you’ll understand when you
learn that the Albrings buy in maize from other
local farmers every year. These take their slurry in
return. Furthermore, the Albring family can make
use of the 3rd and 4th cut from neighbouring farmers
who don’t want to use this forage themselves.
“It’s often not worth using it for silage, but for
feeding fresh grass it’s really good,” André Albring
explains. As he sees it, one advantage of the late cut
is that this way the grass is not too long as the fields
go into winter. In his experience, the grass sward
can get off to a better start the following spring, if
properly managed.
Fresh grass instead of soya
Experience is key: originally from the Netherlands,
Monique and André Albring carved a new life
for themselves as farmers in Ihorst when they
acquired the farm in 2000. “My brother runs
the family farm near Stadskanaal in the Dutch
province of Drenthe and has long been an advocate
of feeding fresh grass – like many other farmers in
the Netherlands. The advisory bodies there are also
well-acquainted with this method and can provide
farmers with specialist help. Unfortunately, in my
experience it’s not like that in Germany, which I
think is a shame, because the economic benefits of
feeding fresh grass are obvious,” he says – turning
the conversation back to the three advantages
mentioned at the beginning relating to ration
formulation.
André Albring finds
that 22–25cm is the
ideal growth height of
fresh grass and that
30cm is the maximum.
The stubble length
should be between
8 and 10cm to avoid
forage contamination.
48 1|2023 XtraBlatt
XtraBlatt 1|2023
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