RWAS Sustainable Grassland event at Aberystwyth University Farm, Trawsgoed on Thursday 30th May 2024.
Digwyddiad Glaswellt cynaliadwy ar Fferm Prifysgol Aberystwyth, Trawsgoed ar y 30ain o Fai 2024.
It is a very exciting year for Trawsgoed Farm, as this year they will be hosting The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s Sustainable Grass and Muck Event as part of Ceredigion’s year as the society’s feature county.
Working in partnership with Aberystwyth University, 150 acres have been put aside for machinery demonstrations, to give thousands of visitors from Wales and beyond the opportunity to see the latest innovative silage-making machinery in action. Demonstrations will also be featuring efficient and effective slurry and farmyard manure spreading systems.
We met with some of the organisers for the event to learn a bit more about the farm:
“The farm area consists of 2000 acres, spread over several sites. Trawsgoed farm spans 1000 acres, ranging from level valley bottom land at 30 metres above sea level, rising to upland grazing at 300 metres above sea level. Managed woodlands of native trees and conifers take up around 250 acres of the farm.
Over the past years, Trawsgoed farm has grown from strength to strength with new facilities including a state of the art 5 Delaval VMS 300 robot miking system – which can also be seen in action on the day – used to milk the farm’s 350 dairy cow herd. Another 200 head of dairy youngstock are reared and grazed on the farm.
As well as an impressive dairy herd, 200 head of Aberdeen Angus X beef cattle are grazed at Trawsgoed, before being moved to the Gogerddan site nearby, for finishing. They also farm 400 ewes, consisting of Pedigree Texels, Bluefaced Leicester and Beulahs, to provide ewes for commercial lamb production.
Five cuts of grass silage are taken each year from predominantly Germinal HS2 leys with red clover, and used to feed the livestock, with the aim to produce feed with a high starch and protein content of the highest quality. Peas and Spring Barley grown at a ratio of 70/30 are crimped for the cattle diets to provide a 16% protein feed.
As a finishing feed for the cattle – and with the farms milk purchaser asking to remove soya from the dairy herd’s diet – Lupins are grown and Winter beans are used, and have proven to have no detrimental effect on the herd’s milk production.”
We met with Wyn Evans the Chair of the RWAS Sustainable Grass and Muck Event for 2024, who was keen to share his excitement for the upcoming occasion:
“We’re looking forward to welcoming everyone to Trawsgoed on the 30th of May, to the premier silage making demonstration in the UK. Alongside silage demonstrations from leading machinery manufactures, we’ll have muck spreading demonstrations, farm tours, industry and research-based seminars, indoor and outdoor trade-stands, and a classic machinery display – this will be a day not to be missed!”.
This will be a great day packed with attractions such as feature plots showing various grass, technical seminars, a classic tractor and silage making demonstration and trade stands as well as farm tours to see the working farm in action. As well as being a great educational day there will also be catering units, a licensed bar, and evening entertainment on site.
This is a must do event for the agricultural calendar, and a testament to the importance that Welsh farmers place on producing and harvesting sustainable home-grown high-quality forage.
The committee is extremely grateful to DeLaval, Germinal, and their other various sponsors for making this event possible!
Early bird tickets are available from the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s website at a discounted rate: www.rwas.wales/grasslandevent
Photos of more machinery that will be there on the day can be seen below.
