Are multi-species swards an option on your farm?

With the tightness of grass growth in recent weeks and the poor grazing conditions at the start of the spring leaving it difficult to achieve good residuals and avoid poaching, multi-species swards could be considered.

Multi-species swards have a better tolerance to drought (due to an increased rooting depth), less weeds (after establishment) than grass swards and the flowering plants are excellent for pollinators and biodiversity.

This begs the question, considering the frequency of droughts in recent years and the unpredictability in grass growth during the summer months, can multi-species swards aid in times of poor grass growth and droughts?

The drier summers and wetter winters may see the benefits of multispecies swards come into play as they have the potential to increase sward diversity that might have the potential to allow us to adapt to changing weather patterns.

Furthermore, with the recent introduction of the National Fertiliser Database, the amount of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) you spread has been limited and can be monitored.

Multi-species will fixate N, meaning the amount of N application needed on these paddocks will be reduced giving a small bit of leeway to spread more on paddocks that may require it.

Multi-species swards

Multi-species swards are swards that have a variety of plants from different families that include grasses, clover, brassicas, and herbs.

Your typical multi-species sward should include perennial ryegrass primarily, with possibly a timothy grass, followed by white clover, red clover, plantain and chicory.

The idea of a multi-specie sward is that when they combine, the various species roots at varying depths will allow them them to access more nutrients and moisture in the soil.

Red and white clover have often been described as the engine of the multi-specie machine as they provide the N to produce high quantities of dry matter (DM) production.

A sward with a high clover content of about 20-50% can allow for fertiliser application in the summer months to be halved.

While plantain and chicory in the mix will prevent any losses of N on the farm through better use of N by the animals, and will reduce farm leaching.

Establishment

Multi-species are best suited for grazing and not silage. The soil fertility of the ground should be a pH of 6.2-6.5 with, ideally, an index of <3 for P and K.

If you are sowing the multi-specie sward as part of the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) scheme, the seed mixture required is as follows:

Much like grassland reseeding, the best conditions are when the seedbed is warm and moist and sowing should be done between April and August.

The most cost-effective way of sowing the sward is by direct drilling into a stale seed bed/minimum cultivation and is the most environmentally friendly way of doing it as it retains more soil organic matter.

In order to achieve the best results, the procedure should be as follows:

• Graze/cut off existing sward as tight as possible;
• Spray-off with glyphosate as per normal reseed;
• Adhere to the interval between spraying and grazing/cutting;
• Lime should be applied, if necessary.  If using minimum cultivation apply 5 tonne of lime per hectare to the desiccated sward pre-cultivation.  If ploughing address any lime requirement post-ploughing;
• Apply normal seed bed fertiliser at sowing (P and K with N) based on soil test results;
• Sow at approx. 1 cm deep (choose drill carefully to avoid seed separation);
• Sow the multi-species seed mix at a rate of 12kg/ac (30kg/ha)
• Roll to ensure soil and seed contact;
• Allow six to eight weeks before the first grazing to let herbs establish strong taproots, only graze if new plants are strong enough to withstand grazing.

The plough/till/sow method can also be used with the same principles as the procedure described above.

Over-sowing into an existing sward is another option but can be less reliable than a full reseed, although, it is a cheaper option and when it is done correctly, it can be very successful.

Overall, incorporating a multi-specie sward on your farm could help throughout tough growth spells in the summer and wetter conditions at early spring.