Herbal Leys – A Complete Guide

Herbal leys are growing in popularity for landowners. Not only is the UK Government offering attractive and profitably incentives to establish herbal leys, but they also bring a wealth of benefits to your land.

From improved livestock health and performance through to better soil and biodiversity, herbal leys are a valuable addition to any landscape.

In this guide, we dig deeper into what goes into a herbal ley, we explore the advantages of herbal leys and also provide tips on how to establish and manage them effectively while also accessing lucrative Government schemes.

What is a Herbal Ley?

Herbal leys can be made up from a wide mixture of mixtures of grasses, legumes, and herbs and are typically sown in pastures to create a high-quality forage for livestock.

In addition to providing a balanced and nutrient-rich diet for your animals, herbal leys bring a wealth of other benefits, including improved soil health and structure, enhanced biodiversity and better animal health and productivity.

Because herbal leys are usually a mixture of varieties and species, this also means you can create bespoke mixes that are tailored to your livestock and land, ensuring you can optimise their performance.

Herbal leys can also be used for silage, ensuring you can provide our livestock with a quality and valuable source of food year-round.

Herbal leys can be tailored to suit various livestock, including sheep, dairy cows, beef cattle, and can be used for silage and pasture grazing.

Herbal Ley Benefits

As we’ve said, herbal leys can deliver a range of benefits to your farm from improved livestock health through to the diversity of your soil and landscape. The benefits include:

1.     Nutritional Diversity

Because of the wide range of plant species included in a herbal ley, you get a diverse range of nutrients. This rich and varied mix ensures livestock get a well-rounded diet, rich in proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fibre.

2.     Improved Soil Health

One of the key benefits of herbal leys is a significant improvement in soil health. The diverse mix and deep roots of many of the herbs and legumes help to improve soil structure and this improves water retention as well as boosting organic matter content.

Plus, the plants in a herbal ley are also nitrogen fixers which help to enrich the soil with key nutrients, reducing the need for fertilisers.

3.     Enhanced Biodiversity

Another key benefit of herbal leys relates to the wider ecosystem around the farm. By improving plant diversity in pastures with herbal leys, this helps to support a wider range of beneficial insects and wildlife.

This increased biodiversity benefits the farm by building more balanced and, more importantly, resilient agricultural land.

4.     Pest and Disease Resistance

A diverse sward with multiple plant species brings strength to agricultural land. The variety of plants each bring different qualities and benefits and this helps to disrupt pest life cycles and reduce the incidence of disease outbreaks, creating healthier pastures.

5.     Increased Forage Yield and Quality

Yield is key when it comes to maximising the potential of your livestock and herbal leys can produce higher yields than traditional monoculture pastures.

Again, the variety of plants means you can get a constant supply of high-quality forage throughout the grazing season as different plants perform at their best during different periods of the year or in different climates.

The steady supply of nutrient-rich forage ensures you can improve livestock productivity and health.

6.     Herbal Ley Benefits for Sheep

For sheep, herbal leys have a number of key benefits that help to improve health and growth rates.

Legumes like clover and herbs such as chicory and plantain, for example, are important for improving digestion and have benefits for the overall health of the animal. Herbal leys can also enhance wool quality and increase growth rates in sheep.

7.     Herbal Leys for Dairy Cows

Dairy cows require more high-energy forage than any other livestock as they are expected to maintain a high rate of milk production and herbal leys are a valuable source of nutrients that support this process.

Herbal leys with a rich mixture of grasses, legumes, and herbs help to provide a balanced diet that supports lactation and improves milk yield and quality.

Cow health and fertility is also improved with herbal leys because of the high mineral content found in herbs.

8.     Herbal Leys for Beef Cattle

The high protein found in legumes and the overall variety of plants are a great addition to the diet of beef cattle, helping to support muscle development and growth, maximising the potential of the animal.

Herbal leys are a great way to increase weight gain and improve meat quality, plus, the high quality forage from herbal leys can also reduce the need for supplementary feeds, lowering production costs and improve profits.

9.     Herbal Leys for Silage

Herbal leys can be a valuable silage source, ensuring your livestock continues to get a valuable, nutrient-rich feed source during the winter months.

The diverse range of plants ensures that the forage ferments well and creates silage with an excellent feed value.

10.   Herbal Leys for Pasture Grazing

With the benefits listed here, it’s clear to see that herbal leys are an ideal grazing option for livestock.

The rich variety of plants provides a palatable and attractive mix for animals to support consistent grazing and the diversity of species also ensures livestock get a balanced diet that optimises their performance.

To make the most of pastures with herbal leys, and to improve pasture longevity and productivity, it is recommended you adopt rotational grazing systems that give herbal leys time to recover.

Herbal Leys and SFI

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is a flexible new scheme created by the Government that rewards farmers for environmental land management.

The scheme offers farmers a wealth of cash incentives to explore schemes that can improve soil health, enhance biodiversity and prevent water run-off and combat flooding in extreme weather events. Tens of thousands of farmers across the UK have already taken advantage of this new scheme.

Crucially, the SFI scheme can run alongside other Government programmes, and this ensures farmers can access more money to help make farming more sustainable and profitable.

One of the most effective ways to take advantage of the SFI scheme is to plant herbal leys.

By planting a herbal ley mix, farmers can access set payments over the three-year agreement, offering new revenue streams to support the farm and improve the environment.

Greenland Seeds provides all of these high-quality mixes and can also create bespoke mixes to exactly meet the needs of your farm and maximise the value of the SFI scheme.

Countryside Stewardship

The Countryside Stewardship scheme differs from SFI as it provides a much more extensive list of options and actions that benefit the environment and farmers can seek payments for.

It is one of the key schemes designed to replace the Basic Payment Scheme and rewards actions that help to improve the rural environment.

There are more than 250 different grants to access and farmers can take a pick and mix approach, only adopting the actions that will best suit their farm.

GS4: Legume and Herb-Rich Sward

One of the options under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme relates directly to herbal leys and farmers can claim £382 per hectare for planting legumes and herbs.

This option is available on the Mid-Tier and Higher-Tier and can be used on whole parcels of land or just parts of arable, temporary grassland or permanent grassland. As part of the scheme you must have a clear management plan for fertiliser inputs.

The aim of this option is to create a vigorous sward with abundant legume and herbs that benefit cattle and sheep but also create a rich habitat for insects as well as improve soil structure and health.

The area with herbal leys can be cut and maintained but, under the deal, it must be left untouched for five weeks between May1 and July 31 so that the majority of flowers are in bloom and available to pollinators.

Establishing Herbal Leys

Establishing herbal leys on your land is a relatively simple process, but there a few key things that you should consider to make sure you get a healthy and abundant mix of plants that will prosper and provide livestock and wildlife with everything they need.

Site Selection and Soil Preparation

Herbal leys can be established in a variety of locations but an ideal site will have well-drained soil and a good supply of sunlight.  Before choosing a seed mix and sowing, it’s worth testing the soil for pH and nutrient levels. Optimum pH levels for herbal leys are between 6.0 and 7.0 and you should amend the soil with lime and fertilisers first to create a perfect growing environment.

Herbal Ley Seed Mixes

When choosing or creating your herbal ley seed mix, make sure you select a diverse mix of grasses, legumes, and herbs  that are suited to your soil conditions.

Common species in herbal leys include perennial ryegrass, Timothy, fescue, red and white clover, chicory, plantain, and yarrow.

Greenland Seeds offers a range of pre-selected herbal ley mixes that contain grasses, legumes and herbs and are specifically tailored to meet the requirements of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and the Sustainable Farming Incentive. We can also develop bespoke mixes to exactly meet your needs.

Sowing Herbal Leys

Herbal ley seed mixes are best sown in early spring or late summer when soil moisture levels are good. It is best to use a broadcast seeding machine to get an even distribution and it’s also important to make sure you get good seed to soil contact – consider lightly raking the soil or rolling it.

Seeding rates will vary depending on the mix, but we print clear guidelines on all our products to help ensure you can establish a quality herbal ley.

Watering and Establishment of Herbal Leys

After sowing, it is really important to keep the soil moist throughout the establishment phase of the herbal ley. You will need to water lightly, but frequently to encourage germination and early growth.

Once the plants are established, you can reduce the frequency of watering but you should increase the amount of water you are putting on the land as this will help to promote deep root growth.

Management and Maintenance of Herbal Leys

Herbal leys are best managed through regular grazing or mowing for silage as this helps to encourage healthy regrowth. If you are using herbal leys under a Government option, make sure you stay within the guidelines for grazing and mowing, leaving the herbal leys untouched under the key pollinator season.

You should adopt a rotational grazing system to avoid over-grazing and it’s also worth carrying out soil tests periodically and amending the soil or adding fertiliser where necessary.

Managing weeds and pests can be done with integrated pest management practices, such as encouraging natural predators, and maintaining a rich and diverse mixture of plants to suppress opportunities for weed growth. If necessary, targeted herbicide applications can also be used to manage weeds.

Overseeding Herbal Leys

If part of the herbal ley becomes bare or growth has become thin, you can overseed the area for a quick and simple solution for restoring the herbs, grasses and legumes.

You can just use your existing mixes to repair the area and, overseed it effectively, prepare the soil by loosening it with a rake to help the seeds quickly establish.

Its then as simple as sowing the seeds at the appropriate rate over the area and making sure it is watered regularly. If possible, protect the area from grazing until the herbal ley has established again.

Conclusion: The Advantages of Herbal Leys

Herbal leys offer a huge array of benefits for your land and livestock, helping to improve both animal and soil health as well as increasing biodiversity and supporting wildlife. Plus, there are a range of attractive Government incentives for planting herbal leys.

If you want to know more about how you can enhance your land with the benefits of herbal leys or would like to get more information about our herbal ley mixes, get in touch with the team.