Having a range of different kit to tackle grass reseeds and rejuvenation is critical if you are to get new leys off to a good start. Nick Fone visited one Camarthenshire contractor who’s got all his bases covered.

South-west Wales is good grass growing territory. Heavy rainfall from the Atlantic and higher-than-average temperatures courtesy of the Gulf Stream make the climate ideal for producing decent tonnages of silage.

See also: See also: Dal-bo’s giant Megaroll rolls

But with those weather patterns come challenges. When it comes to ripping up ground and establishing a new crop, the soil conditions are rarely perfect.

Camarthenshire farmer and contractor Rob Davies knows this only too well and has kitted himself out accordingly.

“Grass is such an important crop around here that it’s critical the leys get reseeded or at least rejuvenated on a regular basis. But depending on the time of year and how wet it is, we have to chop and change the way we get it in the ground.

“Traditionally on our sandy soils we have ploughed, rolled, cultivated, rolled again, spun on the grass seed with a Vicon Varispreader, spike-harrowed and then rolled a third time – a very laborious and costly operation.”

Soil left undisturbed

Rejuvenation was seen as a solution to this issue. With either a harrow-mounted seeder or a specialist direct-drill, the soil could be left undisturbed while more vigorous grass species were introduced. So in 2012 Mr Davies decided to put his neck out and invest in an Aitchison tine drill.

“It’s proved a really good machine in certain situations but the results aren’t always ideal. It’s OK in the autumn when there’s not much competition from the existing grass, but in spring the young seedlings can get drowned out and, of course, that’s all very dependent on the weather conditions following drilling.”

While the Aitchison covered the rejuvenation side of things, there was still a gap in Mr Davies’ line-up for complete reseeds. Then, at the Riverlea spring show in 2013, Mr Davies spotted something that had the potential to solve both issues.

“In amongst everything was a set of folding Dalbo flat-rolls with leveling boards, harrow tines and Einbock seeder on the back – it made sense as a one-pass machine.

“I went away and thought about it. An Einbock harrow and seeder was going to cost over £12,000 and a new set of folding flat-rolls was going to be another £12,000. For £20,000 I could buy the Dalbo which did both jobs at once. It wasn’t a difficult decision.”

So, how does it work?

Up front the 6.3m Maxiroll Greenline has angle-iron levelling bars followed by two rows of harrow tines which can be lifted in and out of work hydraulically and can be adjusted for aggressiveness. Behind these are the fan outlets for the seeder which means the grass is immediately pressed into the soil by the following roller.

Set-up is pretty straightforward and the Einbock metering system comes in for particular praise.

“Having electric metering that plugs into the tractor speed sensor is brilliant and calibration couldn’t be easier,” says Mr Davies.

See also: Nine-step guide to setting up a beef grazing rotation

All up, the 6.3m rig weighs in at 5.5t. Rather than ballasting the rolls with water, Mr Davies fills them with waste engine oil to ensure they don’t crack or split when the weather freezes.

“It is a heavy set-up which means it does a good job but with the tines set well in, going up some of our steep banks the tractors really know it’s on the back.

 “Most importantly we’ve knocked out all those costly extra passes. Typically now we’ll aim to avoid turning the ground over completely – we’ll pull our Sumo subsoiler through where it’s needed and, if a complete fresh start is required, we might spray off the existing grass.

But because we know the Dalbo will do a decent job we don’t have to plough everything. With that and the Aitchison we’ve got everything covered.”

Business facts

RH & RE Davies, near Llanelli, Carmarthenshire

Work undertaken  Grass, wholecrop and maize silage; slurry – umbilical and tanker; all cultivations; grass rejuvenation/reseeds; spraying; liming, steel-frame building fabrication and erection

Farmed area  Maize (30ha), wholecrop wheat (6ha), five-year grass leys (50ha)
Stock   520-head dairy youngstock contract reared

Machinery  Tractors – NH T7.235, T7.200, T7.170, T6.140 and Fordson Dexta on scraper; Loader – JCB TM310-S; Forager – JD 7400; Sprayer – 2000-litre Agribuggy 5D with 20m booms; Trailers – 3 x Smyth 14-tonners

Staff  Rob Davies, Luke Creamer and Phil Rees full-time plus up to three others as required