Average growth rates this week are a phenomenal 107kg per day, with many farms growing in excess of 120kg per day. Indeed, some farms are recording growth rates as high as 170kg per day over three or four days.
These are real figures – you can almost see the grass growing. But as the ad goes, past performance is not an indicator of future performance. The surpluses generated over the past 10 days need to be removed quickly to get those paddocks back growing leafy grass again. Well over half the land is now in surplus, whether the farmers know it or not.
While growth rates are not going to fall over a cliff, they will decrease gradually over the next few weeks and if demand does not drop to match growth, then grass suitable for grazing will get tight.
For those that didn’t cut silage over the weekend, and are still skipping over paddocks, be careful as you can’t afford to keep these closed up for too long.
Really, you shouldn’t set the demand for grass any higher than 70kg per day for the next four weeks.
This is a stocking rate of about four cows per hectare. The forecast for the next few days is mixed but if half an opportunity comes to cut out surplus paddocks, then take it. I’d prefer to see a few soggy bales in the yard than to be stocked at five cows per hectare with a growth rate of 60kg and grass quality extremely poor.
Nitrogen spread now will grow grass in June. With such high growth rates now, we can expect grass to be hungry for nitrogen in a few weeks’ time. Decide for yourself how much grass you need to grow in June and spread accordingly.
Steven Fitzgerald
Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.89
Growth rate (kg/day) 114
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 850
Yield (l/cow/day) 25.6
Fat % 4.59
Protein % 3.54
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.15
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.2
I’ve never seen growth rates as high on this farm as they are now. It’s good to see but takes a bit of management as the farm could turn into a forest if we don’t keep an eye on it. We continue to take out paddocks for silage. We haven’t cut anything yet but we will in a few weeks. If we get more surpluses we will cut these sooner. Cows continue to milk well and we are very happy with breeding so far, with 96% submitted in the first three weeks, but we will have to wait and see how many hold. The plan is to do six weeks of AI and then let off stock bulls.
Donal Patton
Teagasc Ballyhaise, Co Cavan
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.11
Growth rate (kg/day) 80
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 621
Yield (l/cow/day) 24.7
Fat % 4.19
Protein % 3.59
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.98
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
Growth rate this week was 80kg per day. We’re not getting as high a growth rate as others but the farm is beginning to take off alright. We skipped over four paddocks for long-term silage and we will probably be skipping over one or two more by the weekend. We are spreading 1.5 bags per acre of 18:6:12 after grazing and will top up the silage paddocks with extra nitrogen. Depending on the outlook for growth, we will include any surplus paddocks in with the first cut or else cut them as bales. Cows are cleaning out paddocks well. Pre-grazing yields are being kept low at 1,250kg/ha.
Sean Cummins
Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.88
Growth rate (kg/day) 99
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 786
Yield (l/cow/day) 26
Fat % 4.01
Protein % 3.51
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 1.75
We’re after getting a right flush of grass so we need to take action fast. Pre-grazing yields have already crept up to 1,700kg so we have four paddocks out for silage. Two of these will go in with the first cut but the other two will be cut for bales in a week’s time. There might even be one or two more out by then. Breeding is going well. We got 89% submitted in the three weeks and scanned those not served. Three quarters of these were cycling so got a shot of Estrumate and the rest got CIDRs. We’re feeding the meal for tetany prevention but I think I can cut this back a bit more.
Daniel Barrett
Teagasc Solohead, Co Tipperary
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 5.2
Growth rate (kg/day) 104
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 950
Yield (l/cow/day) 26.5
Fat % 4.23
Protein % 3.73
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.11
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 1
We are after a very good week, with a grass growth of 104, and this is mainly due to the increase in soil temperature from seven and eight degrees two weeks ago to 14 degrees now. Cover per cow is 183kg and we have a good few grazing paddocks skipped. Cover per cow is 183kg and we plan to be skipping over more paddocks over the next few weeks. Demand is 88kg per day. Breeding started here on 27 April which was three weeks ago and we have 78% of the herd bred to date.