How Reseeding Supports Higher Performance

Why It Matters

Consistent reseeding safeguards dairy profitability by boosting home‑grown forage, reducing feed imports, and delivering rapid financial returns despite tighter fertilizer regulations.

Key Takeaways

• Annual reseeding prevents yield gaps and secures future production.
• Reseeds boost spring and autumn grass, reducing imported feed reliance.
• Lower nitrogen use combined with reseeding sustains milk output profitably.
• Two‑year payback from extra grass outweighs upfront reseeding costs.
• Good pH enables reseeding even without phosphorus fertilizer, preserving soil health.

Summary

The video spotlights the critical role of annual reseeding on dairy farms, using Tom and Helen O’Connell’s Enniscarra operation as a case study. John Maher of the Grass 10 program and the O’Connells discuss why skipping a reseed year is not an option, especially as fertilizer nitrogen allowances tighten and demand for spring‑autumn forage rises. Key insights include the dual benefit of reseeding: it drives the highest grass response during shoulder seasons and creates space for clover, while also offsetting reduced chemical fertilizer use. Tom has cut his overall stocking rate from 3.5 to 3.1 cows per hectare, yet maintains peak rates of 3.5‑3.6 on reseeded paddocks, demonstrating that strategic stocking adjustments can preserve milk yields despite lower nitrogen inputs. Notable quotes reinforce the economics: Maher notes a “two‑year payback” on the extra grass produced, and Tom adds that “we sent in more milk with fewer cows,” highlighting improved animal performance. The discussion also covers soil health—pH 6.7 and strong P/K indices allow reseeding without phosphorus fertilizer, turning a potential limitation into an opportunity. The broader implication is clear: dairy producers should maintain consistent reseeding cycles, integrate modest stocking‑rate tweaks, and monitor soil fertility to sustain profitability and feed self‑sufficiency, even when market prices dip or input costs rise.

Original Description

Tom O’Connell, dairy farmer in Inniscarra, near Cork city, and John Maher of Grass10, join Stuart Childs to discuss the importance and management of reseeding.

John first outlines the national figures which are poor in terms of the amount of reseeding taking place each year and this is a negative for the industry.

Tom is the opposite, reseeding every year on both grazing platform and silage ground. Reseeding every year  is what Tom says allow him to have the confidence to take out the ground safe knowing he has responsive swards that will grow at sufficient levels to meet herd requirements while he waits for the reseed to slot back in, as evidenced by the performance of the spring 2024 and 2025 reseeds.

Tom splits the 10% so that it isn’t all gone out together and generally takes the 2nd piece out when he knows the first bit is nearly ready to come back in. This as an insurance policy against having too high a stocking rate with all ground out at the same time. 

Tom has also reduced his overall milking platform stocking rate through land acquisition and a slight reduction in cow numbers so that now his stocking rate with reseeded ground out is where his stocking rate was before he took out ground for reseeding in the past. 

This is making the whole thing easier to tackle as at the higher stocking rate, he could be tight for grass at times and this was adding cost as well as compromising production.

For Tom, reseeding is an essential element of each year’s work.

John finishes up by highlighting that people often do a lot of the things right but fail to get the post emergence spraying and early grazing of the sward right. Tom is doing this very well as evidenced by his lack of need to spray for weeds between reseeding events in his paddocks.

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