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Grass growth rates remain stubbornly low, averaging only 8kg/day across our Grass+ farms.
The 10-year average for the same period is 34kg/day. This shows how bleak the situation currently is. However, the long-range forecast looks as though milder weather is due to come in early next week, but with it comes more rain.
I don’t think grass growth rates are going to take off anytime soon. Yes, they will increase rapidly, but it could be mid-April at the earliest before we can expect to see average growth rates in excess of 40kg/day. It will be great if it comes before this, but I don’t think it will. Growth rates are currently lagging by about six weeks compared to the average.
What impact will this have? It depends really on two things:
If the answer to either of these two question is yes, then you are in a relatively good position. If the answer is no to both, then you have no option but to house and feed silage and meal.
How much grass is enough? The rule of thumb is not to drop below an average farm cover of 500kg/ha. Doing so will reduce subsequent growth rates. If silage isn’t available and you can graze then it might be a realistic option to drop covers to 300kg/ha. It will mean you will have to feed more meal for much longer – costly stuff.
If about 50% of the farm has been grazed, graze the remaining land over the next 20 days. If 70 to 80% of the farm has been grazed, delay the start of the second round until there is at least 900kg on the first grazed paddocks and then go on a 30 or 35 day round length.
All options require heavy supplementation. Most farmers are feeding milking cows between 5kg and 8kg of meal per day along with silage where it is available.
Teagasc Curtins Farm, Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.9
Growth rate (kg/day) 6
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 355
Yield (l/cow/day) 24
Fat % 4.47
Protein % 3.40
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.95
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4.5m, 5s
Average farm cover dropped significantly this week to 355kg/ha. Obviously it’s not where we want to be but sure what can we do? Cows are in at night on good-quality bale silage. We have enough silage to get us to the middle of April. We’re grazing 140sq m/cow/day, which is a 25-day round length. Pre-grazing yield has dropped to 900kg. We have 500kg on first grazed paddock. We will start the second round on 10 April and hold the rotation length. Cows are milking well and condition score is 3 on average. Protein percent has actually increased this week.
Bandon, Co Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.2
Growth rate (kg/day) 6
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 605
Yield (l/cow/day) 24.5
Fat % 4.28
Protein % 3.17
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.87
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 6m 4s
I did a farm cover today (Wednesday) and I got a growth rate of 6kg per day over the last two weeks. But walking around the farm I think growth is picking up. Because cover is getting low I’ve increased meal from 4.5kg to 6kg per day. I was only feeding silage on wet days, but now we’re going to feed them 4kg every day and reduce grass back to 6kg/day. This means bringing the cows in at night after a few hours in the evening. There is 68% grazed and I will start the second round on 15 April. There’s a Grass 10 open day here on Thursday 29 March at 11am.
Tullow, Co Carlow
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3
Growth rate (kg/day) 8
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 450
Yield (l/cow/day) 27.5
Fat % 4.55
Protein % 3.41
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.2
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 8m 5s
We have 85% of the farm grazed and things are going well except for the fact that growth is so slow. There is a cover of only 600kg back on the first grazed paddocks and farm cover has dropped to 450kg. This worries me so I won’t let it drop any more.
Demand is set at growth rate from now on. We upped the meal from 6.5 to 8kg per day and only one third of the cows are going out to grass but a different third will be going out every day to keep protein up. I’m going to stretch what’s left to be grazed for the next 20 days. I’m buying in silage.
Teagasc Ballyhaise, Cavan
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.9
Growth rate (kg/day) 9
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 435
Yield (l/cow/day) 21
Fat % 4.60
Protein % 3.30
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.71
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4m 5s
Farm cover dropped a lot this week so they are in by night and out grazing by day. We’re feeding 4kg of 14% protein meal and allocating 6kg of grass during the day.
They have access to about 5kg of silage at night. Growth rate is 9kg so it’s not too bad but demand is 14kg so we need to be careful. We spread one bag/acre of urea across the whole farm last Friday.
We have 82% of the herd calved and I’m happy enough with body condition score. SCC is 121,000.
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