Average grass growth this week was 70kg per day which is good but it doesn’t tell the full story. The diverse nature of the weather this year is extraordinary. At present, the country can be split into three divisions. August has been a good grass-growing month for most of the southern half of the country, with regular but not too much rain and plenty of heat in the soil driving on grass and utilisation is excellent.It’s different territory in parts of the north and the west, where almost constant rain is hampering growth rates and making grazing very difficult on heavy land. Some fields can’t be travelled.
Average grass growth this week was 70kg per day which is good but it doesn’t tell the full story. The diverse nature of the weather this year is extraordinary. At present, the country can be split into three divisions. August has been a good grass-growing month for most of the southern half of the country, with regular but not too much rain and plenty of heat in the soil driving on grass and utilisation is excellent.
It’s different territory in parts of the north and the west, where almost constant rain is hampering growth rates and making grazing very difficult on heavy land. Some fields can’t be travelled.
On the other extreme, farms in parts of Carlow, Kilkenny and Kildare haven’t had rain for a few weeks and growth rates are suffering there due to soil moisture deficits, with fertiliser just sitting on the ground for the last few weeks.
But for most of the country, grass is growing well ahead of demand and there is plenty of surplus grass about. As a word of caution, if surplus grass is to be cut then it is better to cut it sooner rather than later. Some farmers are still topping. Between topping and cutting you are really reducing your farm’s ability to grow grass over the next few weeks as recovery on cut ground will be slower.
On page 29, we go into detail on the steps involved in formulating a grass budget. The grass budget should guide all your on-farm decisions over the next couple of months.
With only a month left of the open period for chemical fertiliser you need to decide how much more you can spread. Where grass is plentiful now, it could pay to delay spreading now and put on more in early September to drive on growth after the closed period.
Growth rate is good at 70kg per day on average.Some big regional variations in growth across the country.Cutting out a high proportion of the farm for bales will reduce growth rates.Calculate how much nitrogen you can spread before the closed period.Shane Leane
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.13
Growth rate (kg/day) 71
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 845
Yield (l/cow/day) 18
Fat % 5.05
Protein % 3.82
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.61
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.2
Growth is good. The weather has been good – we’re missing most of the rain but we’re not looking for rain either. Conditions are close to ideal which is great. Clean-out is good, with the herd grazing down to 4cm. Average farm cover is creeping up the whole time. We skipped over one paddock on Monday which we cut for bales on Wednesday. I’d say we won’t have any more surplus paddocks to take this year but it depends on the growth we get. Cows are milking well and protein is on the way up.
Donal Patton
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.29
Growth rate (kg/day) 96
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 722
Yield (l/cow/day) 17.8
Fat % 4.62
Protein % 3.67
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.52
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.5
Grass is flying it here at the moment. Conditions are ideal and utilisation is good. We skipped over five paddocks for silage on Monday and we cut three of these. We didn’t cut two just in case we need them for grazing but I don’t think we will so I’ll probably cut them over the weekend if conditions are good.
We normally don’t start building here until mid-August. I won’t go above an average farm cover of about 1,100kg – any higher is just too risky on a mixed soil type farm. Bulls were taken out last week.
Tom Lyng
Greenfield Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.82
Growth rate (kg/day) 24
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 431
Yield (l/cow/day) 19
Fat % 4.67
Protein % 3.9
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.65
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) Lots
Growth and average farm cover has crashed here. We’re crying out for rain. The highest covers we have are at 1,000kg but even these are withering up because conditions are so dry. We’re feeding about 20 bales of silage per day, which works out at about 12kg per cow of silage and we’re also feeding 4kg of meal so the diet is nearly all supplement. Cows go out grazing for a few hours morning and evening and then go back to the feed-face for silage but always have access to the field at night. Protein is holding up very well.
Niall Callanan
Co Galway
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.76
Growth rate (kg/day) 85
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 646
Yield (l/cow/day) 14.8
Fat % 4.3
Protein % 3.72
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.22
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0
We got a good growth rate this week. The weather has been good and clean out is excellent. I have 170kg of meal fed so far this year and I hope I won’t have to feed again until October at the earliest. I’m following the Teagasc grass cover targets and I need to be at around 320kg per cow in mid-September. The last thing I want to do is to cut a paddock for silage in September so I need to watch growth rates and cover closely. I spread 30 units/acre of urea across the farm this week and will go again before the end of the closed period.
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Grass+ beef: How many days? That is the question
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