Grass+ dairy: moisture and heat should drive on grass

Most of the country received rain over the weekend and this, along with higher temperatures, has led to an increase in grass growth rates.

The growth rates in the map opposite take account of some of last week’s growth, so is probably not reflective of what is happening on farms this week. I would guess that farms that got in excess of 5mm of rain over the weekend and have sufficient nitrogen out are growing up to 100kg/day at present.

It’s a different story for farms on free-draining land that didn’t get any rain. Farmers here need to be conservative with grass and reduce demand.

There’s no harm in grazing silage fields again if you need to. When the big burst of growth does come, it will compensate for the lower-than-expected growth rates now.

For the most part, growth rates are good and farms are going to be generating surplus grass again soon. This must be managed to prevent grass quality deteriorating.

Do a farm walk to know where you stand and set demand accordingly. I would be slow to set long-term demand any higher than 70kg or 75kg/day. If you generate surplus grass above this, it is better to remove it quickly and get the field back growing again. By cutting these paddocks early, even at light covers you are reducing the farm’s risk of a grass shortage that could come about if you were to close up this land for longer-term silage.

Target average farm cover per cow should be in the region of 150kg to 180kg. Keep the focus on hitting the grazing residuals. The target is 4cm, which is tight, but this won’t affect cow performance now once cows are on 36-hour allocations. Grazing tight on 12-hour breaks can be hard on younger animals within the herd.

In brief

Teagasc Curtins

Co Cork

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.60

Growth rate (kg/day) 57

Average farm cover (kg/cow) 145

Yield (l/cow/day) 23

Fat % 4.66

Protein % 3.52

Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.94

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2

We got some rain at the weekend but, we could have done with more. We recorded a growth rate of 57kg/day on Monday for the previous seven days, but I think it is growing a lot more now. We grazed one paddock that we had earmarked for silage. We kept the meal at 2kg/day, but will do a grass walk tomorrow and review it. At the moment we are grazing covers of 1,300kg to 1,500kg, so we are right where we want to be. We have 47% of the cows served seven days into the breeding season. We are spreading 20 units/acre of nitrogen after grazing.

Teagasc, Clonakilty

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.88

Growth rate (kg/day) 55

Average farm cover (kg/cow) 162

Yield (l/cow/day) 26.5

Fat % 4.12

Protein % 3.65

Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.12

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

We are tight enough for grass, at 162kg/cow of a farm cover, I don’t want it dropping much below this, so we are feeding 3kg of meal for a few days and will do a cover again tomorrow to assess the situation. Average clover content is 12%, which is actually a bit more than this time last year. We aren’t seeing much of an effect on growth or milk production just yet, but over the next few weeks it should increase. Milk and grass figures are from the cows on tetraploid grass and clover treatment. The grass-only cows are milking 2.09kgMS/cow/day.

Ballina,

Co Mayo

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.38

Growth rate (kg/day) 51

Average farm cover (kg/cow) 142

Yield (l/cow/day) 24.75

Fat % 4.23

Protein % 3.71

Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.02

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

My father has been recording rainfall here since 1985, and this April was the driest on record, with just 28mm of rain. I reckon the farm is growing about 70kg per day at the moment, but if we don’t get decent rain in the next week or 10 days this will slow down. We are at 142kg/cow, just about OK for grass, so we are on 3kg of meal. Cows are grazing covers of 1,400kg and we are spreading 30 units of Richland plus sulphur after every grazing. We started AI on Wednesday. Cows are in good condition score, and I’m happy with how they’re milking.

Kilmoganny,

Co Kilkenny

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.56

Growth rate (kg/day) 38

Average farm cover (kg/cow) 189

Yield (l/cow/day) 26.32

Fat % 3.94

Protein % 3.5

Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.02

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

Overall, we’re very happy with how things are going at the moment. We got 10.5mm of rain over the weekend and, while we would take more, it has been a big help. We will do another grass cover tomorrow and reassess things then, but I think growth will be well up. We are grazing covers of 1,200kg to 1,300kg, I’d prefer it to be a bit higher, but quality is good. We are spreading 28 units/acre of protected urea with sulphur after grazing. We started AI last Wednesday and had 32% of the herd served in the first week.

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