The Grass Week: average covers running ahead of target for many

Spring seems to have finally sprung, after what seems like a small eternity.

Ground temperature is rising, which is coinciding with fertiliser applications getting up to date and increased growth.

Currently, growth is on par with the 10-year average and running slightly ahead of this time in 2022.

Two things appear to have happened on farms - either farmers got a good deal grazed in February and very little in March or got very little grazed in either month on heavier farms.

Heavier covers

What it has resulted in is heavier covers than are needed on a lot of farms, with a national average farm cover of 798kg DM/ha or 238kg/LU, according to PastureBase data.

Looking at this in a simple way, this would indicate farmers are grazing covers of 1,500kg to 1,600kg DM/ha, which is in excess of what we should be targeting.

Grass has its highest energy at 1,200kg, but the issue with grazing these covers is cows' inability to physically get enough grass into them.

For this reason, we should be targeting covers of 1,300kg to get the highest-energy grass into cows without compromising on intake.

More grass

From talking to farmers this week, a physical walk on the farm is surprising many, as there is more grass on the farms than many believed there was.

Growth has improved well in the last week, likely coupled with these higher farm covers.

Action will have to be taken sooner rather than later on a lot of farms to ensure grass quality is maintained in front of cows, with paddocks removed for short-term or long-term silage or selecting paddocks for reseeding.