Grass+ dairy: super winter growth means farms well set up

Average grass growth this week is 5kg per day. Most growth rates were recorded on the first measurement of the year so they represent the growth rate between closing and now. A growth rate of 5kg/day over the winter is an excellent rate and is as a result of the milder than normal winter.

As a consequence, average farm covers are higher than normal at around 900kg across the Grass + farms, but some farms have much higher covers at over 1,100kg/ha. Opening the farm at a cover of 900kg is just about bang on target and is a reflection of the closing cover and over-winter growth. The next step is to utilise the grass on the farm and grow more of it.

After the good January, the first round of nitrogen should be spread, where it was permitted to do so. Where nitrogen has not been spread yet, it is important to get this out as soon as conditions allow. The only conditions you need to worry about are ground and rain. If spreading urea, 5-6mm of rain within 24 to 48 hours is ideal. Don’t spread if more rain than this is forecast. If no rain is forecast, then consider CAN or protected urea. Urea is still the product of choice in spring. There is no need to spread nitrogen now on land that got slurry.

If turning out freshly calved cows, allocate 3-4kg of grass per cow per grazing. On-off grazing is probably a necessity for those grazing this week. Start off grazing on a reasonably dry field with a cover no greater than 900 to 1,000kg/ha. Make sure cows go out with an appetite for grazing; there’s no point in turning out cows that are full of silage as all they will do is walk around and do damage.

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Teagasc Curtins Farm

Cows went out for the first time today (Wednesday). We only have 10 cows calved to date so we didn’t think it was worth grazing up to now. It’s currently raining heavily so we are about to go out and bring them in. Despite all the good weather, ground conditions are just about OK. I allocated them 3kg of grass and they are on 3kg of meal too, although they start out on 2kg and I increase it to 3kg when they hit the bulk tank. We spread 23 units/acre of urea on 19 January on 65% of the area and 2,500 gallons/acre of slurry on the rest.

Teagasc Ballyhaise

We did the first grass walk on 1 January and are due to do the next one any day now. At that time we had a cover of 753 and we grew 3kg/day since closing but I expect both to have increased since. The first cow has calved but the rest are not due until next week. The plan is to spread two-thirds of the farm with 23 units/acre of nitrogen and the rest with slurry as soon as ground conditions allow. The deadline for spreading fertiliser and slurry only opened on Wednesday. Ground conditions are reasonably good.

Cloyne, Co Cork

We started grazing last Monday, just by letting cows out for a few hours after morning and evening milking. We didn’t get too much rain over the week so ground is holding up well. Numbers are small yet so it’s hard to get allocation right but after a while we will improve at it and the cows will readjust to cleaning out better. We are grazing covers of about 800kg/ha. We have 20 calved but only have 11 cows out as I leave the really fresh cows in for a day or so. We have the whole farm spread with 35 units of nitrogen and we will spread slurry after grazing.

Tullow, Co Carlow

We went out grazing for the first time today (Wednesday). We have 15 cows calved since last Sunday but we keep the freshly calved cows inside on silage until they are ready to go into the tank and then they will join the grazing herd. Land here is dry so I hope to go out day and night by Thursday. The grass budget says I should have enough grass to stay out full-time with 3kg or 4kg of meal. I spread 30 units of nitrogen per acre on about 70% of the milking platform and the rest of the farm got slurry. Grass dry matter was higher than predicted at 24%.

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