Description
François PINOT and his companion have a herd of 85 dairy cows in northern Brittany. Their farm is about 91 ha, including 37 ha of grassland. Their herd produces 573,000 liters of conventional milk per year. Each cow produces 9,000 litres of milk per year and consumes1,000 kg of concentrates. Every cow has access to 0.40 ha of grassland for grazing.
Over the last four years, the dairy cows graze multi-species grasslands made of 15 kg of perennial rye grass, 3 kg of white clover, 2 kg of hybrid rye grass and 3-4 kg of tall fescue, as well as of another complementary species, namely red clover, hybrid clover, timothy, or birdsfoot trefoil. In order to be in line with the expected level of milk production, the aim is to have mixes adapted to animal’s needs, homogeneous grasslands, higher grass yield and a better nutritional value all year round thanks to a lot of legumes (clover). The objective is also to have grasslands adapted to wet conditions and drought resistant. The different species match each other well and offer grass at every time of year. Because of the higher seeding density, seeds cost more. Moreover, it’s not always easy to have grasslands which remain homogeneous in the long term, to keep good proportion and a great density of legumes, and to prevent weeds from developing. Before sowing multi-species grasslands, it’s very important to start by thinking carefully about the use of the grassland and to take time to choose the correct species and varieties to ensure the mix is as suitable as possible: the ideal is to buy the seeds individually and to make your own mixes.
