Legal, financial and environmental challenges

Every dairy farmer faces the challenge of producing more litres of milk on the same hectares available. And despite the Dutch farmer producing the most litres of milk per cow in the world, we are not (yet) leading in grass production! The roughage factor is still quite high.

Your most expensive means of production is probably your grassland. But do you really have quality milk grass in your meadow, or is it ‘just’ green and therefore not directly nutritious enough for protein- and calcium-rich production? With that, you won’t soon be the only one because the average stocking rate of good grass in Dutch pastures is only 55% milk grass (Engels raai, Timothy, Italian raai, veldbeemd, clover, etc.)? The remaining plants do NOTHING in a cow’s rumen. These “bad” grass plants should be replaced by good milk grass.

Overseeding even better and more important

Fortunately, as a dairy farmer, you have access to ever-improving knowledge, technology and tools. Nowadays, it is therefore increasingly possible to produce good grassland thanks to developments in overseeding:

• Over the past 2 decades, knowledge about grass has increased. We know better how a grass plant grows, what its life cycle is & what that grass does in a cow’s stomachs;
• Improved soil knowledge has made us more aware of the fact that good soil structure must be maintained. Also, we know how important it is to keep organic matter in the cultivation layer;
• Machinery has been greatly improved. Vredo has further developed its overseeding technology, which was already very solid, in recent years. Larger working width, better soil following, more accurate seed dosing, more accurate seeding depth & a newly developed soil-following disc roller (thanks to the so-called Packer ring roller).

In addition, we are on the eve of a new generation of agricultural overseeder, the DZ5 generation, with even better technology that responds to ecological developments and the desire for good and controlled overseeding with clovers and herbs.

Vredo’s overseeding principle

In 1976, De Vree produced its first self-developed machine as a contractor. It was an overseeder named Vredo. Based on the same operating principle, in the late 1980s the sod injector was then also developed, which even today leads the way in the agricultural market.

Vredo’s overseeding principle is based on 2 proven facts:

• Grass seed sown at the right depth has the optimal conditions to germinate;
• Grass seed that is overseeded recovers quickly and thus leaves much less damage than expected.

And so Vredo’s technology works as follows:

• Double V-shaped discs used to cut a small cut into the soil;
• Seed is dispensed between the discs in the cut with the desired amount;
• Soil springs back by itself & is pressed on with the help of pressure roller;
• Seed is in optimum germination conditions: It is now in contact with the soil & moisture and receives the necessary light & air;
• The seed lies protected from weather, (night) frost & birds.

The combination of double cutting discs, pressure spring and drag foot ensure optimum sowing depth which means the most efficient use of expensive grass seed.