The productivity of grassland farms in seven climatic zones of England and Wales

Records of grassland productivity were kept for 2 years on 152 dairy and 179 beef farms. Results were collated for six lowland zones, delineated primarily on the basis of average rainfall, and an upland zone. Contemporary and long‐term average meteorological records were also collected. In most of the lowland zones stocking rates and use of fertilizer N were similar, but utilized metabolizable energy (UME) output from grass varied; it was 25% higher in the wet, cool zone of north‐west England and east Wales than in the dry zone of eastern England. The ranking of zones for utilized output corresponded closely with the ranking for summer rainfall. On upland farms stocking rate was 25% lower and UME output 15% lower than on lowland farms, but this was achieved from little more than half the N input. The differences between zones were similar to those shown in other published farm data. They also showed a similar trend to that demonstrated in grass cutting experiments. This suggests that farmers were, on average, able to exploit the extra grass grown in wetter climates. The incidence of difficult topography and impeded drainage was similar in dry and wet zones, but did have a more serious effect in the wet zones. The much higher level of concentrate feeding in the driest zone may have reduced the utilization of grass.