So much grass for two horses!

It’s been a stunning growing flavor inwards parts of  NZ amongst grass everywhere.

The downside is, if you’ve entirely got 2 horses on your 10 acres, in addition to then you’ve got a work amongst excess grass.

Selling your grass is an option, in addition to therefore, it doesn’t wound to know a piffling virtually DM (Dry Matter).

While the average dairy farmer may convey a pasture probe or ascent plate meters, it’s non the variety of detail inwards mutual operate on a Equus caballus farm.

With a fleck of assistance from a twain of pair of scissors in addition to a microwave  you lot tin nonetheless honour out how many kgs of dry out affair per hectare you lot have. Or create you lot desire to know what the wet content of your grass is?

Here are around quick techniques for working it out.

 

The microwave method

Cut a 50cm x 50cm while of grass every bit depression every bit you lot can, removing all dead materials.

Multiply the weight of your fresh sample yesteryear 40; e.g. 200g x xl = 8000kg fresh cloth per hectare.

Then weigh out 100g of this grass, chop it upward in addition to and then set it on a newspaper plate inwards the microwave in addition to microwave it for iv to 5 minutes. Remove the grass in addition to weigh it.

Then set it dorsum on the newspaper plate in addition to microwave it for around other 2 minutes. Remove it from the
microwave over again in addition to weigh it. Continue to microwave it for 2 minutes at a fourth dimension in addition to and then weigh it until
at that spot is no modify inwards weight.

Calculate the dry out affair proportion yesteryear dividing the in conclusion weight yesteryear the weight of the fresh cloth e.g. 35g divided yesteryear 100g = 0.35 Then subtract 0.1 (because the microwave does non larn the sample totally dry). This gives you lot 0.25 or 25% DM.

Multiply the fresh weight per hectare yesteryear your in conclusion dry out affair percentage, e.g. 8000kg fresh cloth x 0.25 = 2000kgDM/ha.

Add 400g kgDM/ha to concern human relationship for the grass below your cutting level. In this event it gives you: 2400kgDM/ha

 

The microwave wet test

The wet content is the deviation betwixt the master copy weight of the sample in addition to the weight after microwaving. i.e. the higher upward sample is 25% dry out affair in addition to 75% moisture.

 

The oven test

Very like to the microwave exam except that you lot spread the 100g of grass on to an oven tray in addition to dry out in
the oven at 100degC for 24 hours. You in addition to then create the same calculation every bit higher upward simply you lot create non convey to allow
the 0.1 (for the microwave).

 

 

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