I suspect most people are unhappy with the recent rain but it’s been quite useful for us. I never thought I’d hear myself say this after the winter we’ve had but we really do need rain. Probably more than that though, we need warmth. Plants need plenty of heat and moisture to grow properly and the nights are still so cold that we’re not getting the grass growth we need.
Having said that I walked our silage grass yesterday and it is beginning to bulk up a bit. Advice this year is to take a light early cut and then hope for better conditions to produce a decent second cut. I think that’s what we’ll do so as soon as it comes dry again I’ll mow that piece. The reseeded piece of grass is still very slow – I think it’ll come eventually but considering the plan was to cut it this week – and it’s only about an inch high – we might need a ‘plan b’.
I heard the curlews again this morning – they must be roosting up in the trees at the top of our field.