The grazing season has reached the midway point of the year, and as the second half of the growing year gets under way, there should be a different focus to managing grassland.
Grass growth tends to slow down, while grazing demand increases as cattle increase in size. Outlined are five steps to managing grass during the second half of the year.
1 Remove all headedout swards
Where grazing swards have headed out, this grass will reduce growth rates over the rest of the year if it is not removed. Animal performance will also suffer.
The first option to remove headed-out grass is to graze with dry autumn-calving cows, or ewes after weaning. You will need to reduce the size of grazing area, or strip graze, to get a good clean-out.
The next option is to top headed-out grass. Using a disc mower gives a cleaner residual than most flail or rotary toppers.
Depending on the bulk of grass, there is also the option to cut and bale these swards for silage, or hay is weather permits.
Dress grazing ground in July with a compound NPK fertiliser. The P and K element will help to stimulate regrowth.
Regular dressings with a product such as CAN will suffice over the rest of the year on swards at optimum P and K levels. Ideally, opt for a nitrogen product with added sulphur to boost growth as the season progresses.
If using slurry, apply lighter coats with a high water content. Nitrogen content will be low in slurry applied in summer, but P and K levels will be good.
Be careful of grazing cows suckling a calf on swards that have received slurry, as the risk of tetany is increased.
From mid-July onwards, grass tends to stay in a vegetative stage rather than reproductive phase. Therefore, as fresh grass regrows, it will remain leafy rather than heading out.
Depending on land type and location, you should look to start building grass covers from the end of the month to extend grazing into autumn.
While you can start to build covers towards the end of the month, try and keep the grazing rotation to around 18 to 21 days in July. This can slowly increase as summer progresses.
Where cattle are grazing swards that are mostly leaf, utilisation should be high. This will reduce wasted and rejected grass.
Make use of electric fencing to split paddocks to maximise utilisation. Splitting paddocks will also help to build covers ahead of cattle.
5 Leave slightly higher residuals
As grass growth slows down during the second half of the grazing season, older and less productive swards will be slower to recover when grazed out tight.
While it is important to clean off covers as tight as possible, with older swards, leave a slightly higher residual cover of 5cm to 6cm.
This will help speed up regrowth. Sward quality will not be affected during the second half of the year as there is less chance of grass heading out.
Read more
Watch: suckling with a view in Belcoo
BETTER farm NI: preparing for autumn calving in Fermanagh
The grazing season has reached the midway point of the year, and as the second half of the growing year gets under way, there should be a different focus to managing grassland.
Grass growth tends to slow down, while grazing demand increases as cattle increase in size. Outlined are five steps to managing grass during the second half of the year.
1 Remove all headedout swards
Where grazing swards have headed out, this grass will reduce growth rates over the rest of the year if it is not removed. Animal performance will also suffer.
The first option to remove headed-out grass is to graze with dry autumn-calving cows, or ewes after weaning. You will need to reduce the size of grazing area, or strip graze, to get a good clean-out.
The next option is to top headed-out grass. Using a disc mower gives a cleaner residual than most flail or rotary toppers.
Depending on the bulk of grass, there is also the option to cut and bale these swards for silage, or hay is weather permits.
Dress grazing ground in July with a compound NPK fertiliser. The P and K element will help to stimulate regrowth.
Regular dressings with a product such as CAN will suffice over the rest of the year on swards at optimum P and K levels. Ideally, opt for a nitrogen product with added sulphur to boost growth as the season progresses.
If using slurry, apply lighter coats with a high water content. Nitrogen content will be low in slurry applied in summer, but P and K levels will be good.
Be careful of grazing cows suckling a calf on swards that have received slurry, as the risk of tetany is increased.
From mid-July onwards, grass tends to stay in a vegetative stage rather than reproductive phase. Therefore, as fresh grass regrows, it will remain leafy rather than heading out.
Depending on land type and location, you should look to start building grass covers from the end of the month to extend grazing into autumn.
While you can start to build covers towards the end of the month, try and keep the grazing rotation to around 18 to 21 days in July. This can slowly increase as summer progresses.
Where cattle are grazing swards that are mostly leaf, utilisation should be high. This will reduce wasted and rejected grass.
Make use of electric fencing to split paddocks to maximise utilisation. Splitting paddocks will also help to build covers ahead of cattle.
5 Leave slightly higher residuals
As grass growth slows down during the second half of the grazing season, older and less productive swards will be slower to recover when grazed out tight.
While it is important to clean off covers as tight as possible, with older swards, leave a slightly higher residual cover of 5cm to 6cm.
This will help speed up regrowth. Sward quality will not be affected during the second half of the year as there is less chance of grass heading out.
Read more
Watch: suckling with a view in Belcoo
BETTER farm NI: preparing for autumn calving in Fermanagh
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