Description
Etienne is a young farmer who recently took over his farm in Cast, Western Brittany. Etienne wants to improve grazing on his farm and is looking for the best association of rye grass and white clover for his permanent grassland. The farm has an oceanic climate. Etienne prefers a simple system for his 42 cows, the forage supply is made of maize silage, grass silage and the herd has access to grazing paddocks from February to November.
Etienne’s aim is to reduce the use of concentrates by grazing high-quality pastures with white clover for at least half the year. His innovation consists in testing different combinations of several varieties of ryegrass and white clover to test how well they do in his system. He will evaluate combinations in terms of cow palatability, early grass growth capacity, biomass production, drought tolerance and clover durability. The aim of this is to identify the best sustainable composition adapted to the farm’s pedoclimatic context. Etienne hopes not to have to reseed his meadows for another 10 or 15 years.
As Etienne is testing different grassland combinations on a small surface, the sowing cost is low and this will help him choose the best combination of varieties in relation to climate change for his grazing platform.
