The average farm cover (AFC) in the country this week according to Pasturebase data is 694kg/ha, with an average growth of 50kg recorded.

However, this varies a lot around the country, with some farmers' AFC running below 400kg/ha, with growth rates closer to 30kg/ha.

Grass growth

At the moment, the soil moisture deficit around the country is sitting between 50mm and 80mm, which is significantly restricting growth rates.

Rainfall

There is a welcome increase in the level of rainfall to come over the next few days, with Met Éireann forecasting a possible 20mm to 40mm in Leinster and Munster, and 15mm to 20mm in Ulster and Connacht.

Grass growth.

However, the showery nature of the precipitation means the distribution of rain won't be even and totals may vary widely over a short distance.

So what does this mean for growth over the next week? Well it will be varied again and very dependent on the amount of rainfall you get.

If you are in an area of the country with a moisture deficit of 80mm, this means you need 80mm of rain to get the soil moisture content back to field capacity.

However, what you’re really looking for to get grass growth back to its full potential is getting the soil moisture deficit back below 30mm.

Significant rise

So even if you are in an area lucky enough to receive 20mm to 40mm over the coming week, any significant rise in growth will be slow to come if the current moisture deficit on your farm sits at 80mm.

For these farmers, it will be important to access feed available and try to budget it out, ensuring you have enough supplementary feed and grass for two weeks, with the farm growing in the range of 30kg to 50kg/ha over the same period.

For farmers in the south and west of Ireland who may be at 50mm of a moisture deficit or less, receiving 20mm to 40mm of rain could really turn growth around on your farms and managing grass quality will be the challenge.

Walking the farm every five days will be very important to see any surplus arising early.

Aim to keeping pre-grazing yield around 1,400kg/ha.

If grass growth surpasses demand and there is surplus of grass on the ground, make sure cover/LU is brought back to 180kg by taking out paddocks with poor-quality grass.

Farmers in this situation should also try to match the demand with grass growth by reducing any extra concentrate that may have been introduced over the last week.