Andrew and Kirstie Baird are GrassCheckGB farmers who have been nominated for the British Farming Awards Grassland Manager of the Year Award. We caught up with them to find out more about how they’re managing grass. 

Farm Facts

County: South Lanarkshire

Animal type & Numbers: 200 cross-bred Friesian/Norwegian red dairy cows 

Land area: 200 acres 

How do you manage your grass? 

We paddock graze allowing fresh grass every 8 hours managed through our robotic milking system. We run a 21-day rotation with cows entering at 3,000Kg/dm and leaving the paddocks between 1,400-1,500Kg/dm. We also do 4 cuts of silage to ensure maximum quality of forage for our autumn block calving herd during the winter. Following each grazing, 25 units of Nitrogen are applied per acre. Silage fields also get 25 units plus 3,500 gallons of slurry/digestate (80%/20%). 

How has GrassCheckGB helped you with your grassland management decisions? 

GrassCheck has benefited us greatly by giving us access to more information on grass quality and predicted rates of growth. We have been able to reduce our fertiliser use while maintaining grass production and utilization. 

What advice would you give to somebody who wants to improve their grassland management?

If you don’t measure, you can’t manage. 

Rotational/paddock grazing will grow at least 10% more grass. 

Take a look at the data on farm: grasscheckgb.co.uk