Average grass growth rate this week is 72kg/day. With warm and damp or wet weather in the forecast, I’d expect to see these average growth rates increase further by this time next week. If farms aren’t growing close to 100kg/day this week, then something is up. That said, very heavy rain along the western seaboard on Monday may hamper growth in some of the worst-affected farms.
These are great weeks to farm – days are long and grass is jumping out of the ground. Priorities must be to grow as much grass as possible to feed the stock but also to make winter feed. However, it’s critically important not to let pre-grazing yields get too strong. High pre-grazing yields destroy protein levels and subsequent growth rates. Keep the covers that the cows are going into less than 1,600kg/ha.
To do so, the farm must be walked every five or six days and any paddocks above the threshold skipped over for silage. One man’s 1,600 can be another man’s 2,000, so it’s important to calibrate your eye by cutting and weighing every so often. Too many farmers are grazing covers that are too high.
Just because grass growth is good, doesn’t mean that the foot should be taken off the throttle. Most farms need to replenish silage stocks. I’d stick with spreading one unit of nitrogen per day on the grazing block for the summer. This includes milking ground and outfarms.
These outfarms are often not pushed very hard during the summer but they should be pushed this year to close up more ground for silage. If highly stocked, remove surplus paddocks as soon as possible and get the field back growing again. Lower-stocked farms can afford to let closed paddocks sit there for a bit longer.
Teagasc Curtins Farm, Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.38
Growth rate (kg/day) 47
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 173
Yield (l/cow/day) 21.6
Fat % 4.77
Protein % 3.43
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.8
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.2
Growth rate for the past week was disappointing. It has been cold here at night and grass just isn’t moving like I’d expect. That said, we’re comfortable for average farm cover. We cut silage on Wednesday so that will reduce the stocking rate over the next few weeks. We will be closing up more ground for silage over the next few weeks. The pre-grazing yield is 1,350kg/ha. Somatic cell count is 72,000.
Dunnamaggin, Kilkenny
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 5.1
Growth rate (kg/day) 109
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 152
Yield (l/cow/day) 26.5
Fat % 3.93
Protein % 3.49
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.03
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
Growth rate jumped this week to 109kg/day so we took out three paddocks for silage. We were going to bale them but we had silage on an outside block to cut too so we put them into the pit. Cows are grazing covers of 1,400kg and they won’t go into anything higher. Cover per cow is at 150kg but we’re happy to be at that level as growth is flying. We’ll cut the main crop of silage next week. We’re following the cows with a bag of Super Net (CAN + S). The main job for this week is spraying under wires with weedkiller.
Mullinahone, Tipperary
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.7
Growth rate (kg/day) 76
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 100
Yield (l/cow/day) 26
Fat % 4.07
Protein % 3.45
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.01
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
Farm cover is low but I’m not too worried about it. I have a couple of paddocks at a cover of 1,600kg and while the rest are lower at around 900kg they are coming along well. Grass is flying it at the moment so I think they’ll catch up fast. I got two-thirds of the farm spread with 40 units of sulphur/urea last week by a contractor. I also cut out paddocks for silage and got just shy of four bales/acre.
The job over the next few weeks is to keep an eye on bulling cows and make sure cows don’t go into covers that are too strong.
Teagasc Ballyhaise, Cavan
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.27
Growth rate (kg/day) 80
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 144
Yield (l/cow/day) 22.31
Fat % 4.18
Protein % 3.46
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.76
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 1
Last week, I thought we’d have to go in and graze a field that was closed for silage but we walked the farm again and decided that we’d be OK and I think it was the right move. We’re grazing covers of 1,400 to 1,500kg and clean-out is good at around 4.5 to 5cm. Depending on paddock size, cows are getting between 24 and 36 hours per paddock. We are 14 days into breeding and have 73% of the cows served. We have 33% of the farm closed for silage and we hope to cut this at the end of next week.
