Impact of frost on grassland

massey woman

Does anyone know what is the scientific impact of this severe weather on farmland
Yeah I know there will come a thaw and everything will change from rock solid to shyte again as we trudge thru the winter muck
Will soil hydraulics improve as a result of expansion under frost
Will drainage improve
Are there negatives
What happened to the worms did they burrow deeper and consequently improve aeration
Did all the snails heel up and are fluke finally a thing of the past RIP
What survived whats gone
What are the positives if any
All you ag science/science students let us know please

johngalway

Crap like Orf hates frost, so hopefully there will be much less of it this year. Though we did not have much last year.

irish_bob

the only positive from this remarkabley cold spell is that all the bugs and ills which effect animals will die , every other area is a negative , will be interesting to read reports from those who go to grass early , something tells me , this year will tell a very different tale

reilig

irish_bob wrote: »

the only positive from this remarkabley cold spell is that all the bugs and ills which effect animals will die , every other area is a negative , will be interesting to read reports from those who go to grass early , something tells me , this year will tell a very different tale

True, it won't affect us too much in the North West as we have 6 months winters - 1st November to 1st May. But on some farms in the North east, East and South of the country, they have 2 month winters - December and January. Cattle are back out on the grass by the 1st of february. there won't be much after that frost.

Remember doing my 180 hour Agriculture course and the tutor thought I was crazy when I told her that we kept cattle in for 6 months of the year. She believed that the wettest farms in ireland would have at most, 3 month Winters. Fact is that some of our cattle spent almost 8 months on slats last year with the wet summer.

Min

reilig wrote: »

True, it won't affect us too much in the North West as we have 6 months winters - 1st November to 1st May. But on some farms in the North east, East and South of the country, they have 2 month winters - December and January. Cattle are back out on the grass by the 1st of february. there won't be much after that frost.

Remember doing my 180 hour Agriculture course and the tutor thought I was crazy when I told her that we kept cattle in for 6 months of the year. She believed that the wettest farms in ireland would have at most, 3 month Winters. Fact is that some of our cattle spent almost 8 months on slats last year with the wet summer.

Same here in that winter is longer than lower levels, I do get leaflets sent out from Teagasc which has unrealistic aims for cattle turn out, we could have snow here and there would be nothing lower down.
Early last April the Teagasc advisor couldn't believe the cattle were still in, they went out mid April and that was the earliest we could let them out.

irish_bob

reilig wrote: »

True, it won't affect us too much in the North West as we have 6 months winters - 1st November to 1st May. But on some farms in the North east, East and South of the country, they have 2 month winters - December and January. Cattle are back out on the grass by the 1st of february. there won't be much after that frost.

Remember doing my 180 hour Agriculture course and the tutor thought I was crazy when I told her that we kept cattle in for 6 months of the year. She believed that the wettest farms in ireland would have at most, 3 month Winters. Fact is that some of our cattle spent almost 8 months on slats last year with the wet summer.

the only part of the country which has a two month winter is the south west or maybe wexford and waterford aswell

whelan1

i am from the north east and we NEVER had a 2 month winter or anything near it

dar31

this year aside usually a 2 month or less winter here in the garden county
turn out this spring is looking a long way off fingers crossed for the 1st feb
next door neighbour on similar land has a 4 month or more winter
its what you make of it

reilig

irish_bob wrote: »

the only part of the country which has a two month winter is the south west or maybe wexford and waterford aswell

I have family near Dunleer, County Louth and they have 2 month winters. Tutor that I referred to above was also from near Dunleer.

irish_bob

reilig wrote: »

I have family near Dunleer, County Louth and they have 2 month winters. Tutor that I referred to above was also from near Dunleer.

louth along with having the best land in the country has very dry ground and recieves the second lowest amount of rainfall in the country after dublin , that said , its too far north for to have early grass like you do in cork so while thier may be dairy farmers who can graze in febuary , they would not be out full time

reilig

irish_bob wrote: »

louth along with having the best land in the country has very dry ground and recieves the second lowest amount of rainfall in the country after dublin , that said , its too far north for to have early grass like you do in cork so while thier may be dairy farmers who can graze in febuary , they would not be out full time

As I said above, I have family in Louth. They have 2 month winters give or take a week. You could drive on the land up there any day of the year.They don't seem to get the frost that we get in the North West and always have good grass when the cattle are going out in early February. They keep sucklers, and once they are let out, they're out full time and not getting silage out in the field.

snowman707

I am in the Mid west,

last year we had a 12 month winter:eek::eek::eek:

massey woman

It looks like the ground has settled back better not as deep a cow tracks a more level or even top?
Hopefully temperatures will continue to rise an we can look forward to the chain harrow and roller routine around Paddys day

whelan1

reilig wrote: »

I have family near Dunleer, County Louth and they have 2 month winters. Tutor that I referred to above was also from near Dunleer.

i live near dunleer and a 2 month winter i have never experienced

reilig

whelan1 wrote: »

i live near dunleer and a 2 month winter i have never experienced

I was looking at handouts given by a Tutor on the 180 hour course that I did a few years back. (Moved into new house in the past few weeks and have started emptying the boxes) She was from near Dunleer, but nearer to the coast i think. She had a presentation about her own farm. 150 cow dairy farm. Cows in on approx Dec 1 and out on approx Feb 1.

She was very proud of it and a bit shocked when I told her about our 6 month winters. So if I'm lieing, I was told lies - and so were the other 40 people on the course.

whelan1

must be closer to the sea , our ground is really heavy and we would be lucky if we had them out til 1 november and back out at end of march:rolleyes:

pakalasa

A 2 month winter - sure you could easily leave them out on winterage for that time , with a only a little meal. No need for sheds.

Rujib1

massey woman wrote: »

It looks like the ground has settled back better not as deep a cow tracks a more level or even top?
Hopefully temperatures will continue to rise an we can look forward to the chain harrow and roller routine around Paddys day

Interested in your chain harrow comment. Have been tempted many times to invest, just to give the grazing and meadow ground a run or two in spring. Would try to avoid using roller afterwards, as I tend to try to avoid rolling in any case, as I just believe, it doses as much damage as good, except in bad poaching cases.

Anyway, do you see good benefit from using the chain harrow? Nobody in my area seems to have or use one, and anyone I ask, seems to say "waste of money buying it, and waste of diesel and more money to use it"!

What do think?

R1