As August ends, the target average farm cover for 1 September should range between 750 kg DM/ha and 1,100 kg DM/ha, depending on stocking rate.

Farmers with higher stocking rates need more grass to be built up to support the greater number of animals to be fed.

However, on heavier soils, caution is needed as building the farm cover too high may lead to difficulty in getting good cleanouts if weather conditions don’t allow.

Looking at data from PastureBase, dairy farmers have an average farm cover of 742 kg DM/ha, but within this there is huge variation.

Some famers in the south are well below the target due to the poor growth rates over the last few weeks.

However, 18mm-22mm of rain on average has fallen on farms in the south and east since Monday, so farmers that managed to maintain their farm cover above 550kg to 600 kg DM/ha should see a good bounce of growth over the next week.

Farms where cover dropped below 550 kg DM/ha will have to keep feeding heavy for another week or so to give the covers a chance to grow, as grass grows grass.

In contrast, some farmers in the north and west have very high farm covers, but getting out to graze some of these high covers remains a challenge due to the rain.

On-off grazing should be used to prevent poaching. It’s important that the cows are hungry when they are let out, so remove any forage from the diet around milking and have it set up that when the cows are just starting to congregate around the gap they are let in.

The outlook of the weather for the next week looks good. So, getting your last round of fertiliser spread over the coming week will take advantage of the good growth rates.

Diarmuid Fitzgerald – Cratloe, Co Clare

Growth is 44kg Dm/ha ahead of demand, so we are well ahead of our autumn targets. We took out 180 bales in the last two weeks and we will have to take out another paddock or two to put us back in line.

There is one final cut of silage to be taken from our red clover sward that was set this year. We should have more than enough fodder once that is taken.

Clover and grass swards have really kicked into gear the last month, with growths averaging between 60-80 kg/day on those swards. Zero nitrogen is being applied to them, while 25-30 units/acre of protected urea is being spread on grass only swards.

Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 2.45

Growth Rate (kg/day) 79

Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 262

Yield (l/cow) 17.2

Fat% 5.17

Protein% 4.11

Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.64

Concentrates .5

Brian Rushe – Derrinturn, Co Kildare

We expect a big bounce in growth after the rain that has fallen since Monday night. We’re feeding 2.5 kg of concentrate on average, but hope to cut it back to 2kg towards the weekend.

We are building covers away nicely and cows are very settled. Pre-grazing covers are slightly ahead of where we would like, averaging around 1,750kg DM/ha.

The cows will continue to be followed with 20-25 units of protected urea plus sulphur for the final chemical application.

We cut half our third cut last week for bales to ensure we will have nice aftergrass coming back in for the cows if needed. The remaining will be cut in the next week or so.

Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.4

Growth Rate (kg/day) 55

Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 230

Yield (l/cow) 17.5

Fat% 5.14

Protein% 4.15

Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.65

Concentrates 2.5

Eamonn Fagan – Glasson, Co Westmeath

The rain that fell was very welcome. We dropped our demand back to 37kg Dm/day, as cover per cow was starting to slip. We upped the meal to 4kg and introduced 2kg of bale silage. This will continue until cover per cow is back on target.

We plan to blanket spread the entire farm with 30 units/acre of protected urea early next week.

There are 60 acres to be cut for bales in the next two weeks, depending on growth. The option is there to zero graze it if it’s needed.

A scan is booked in for next week, but going by our SenseHub collars there should only be around 8-9% empty.

Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3

Growth Rate (kg/day) 59

Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 218

Yield (l/cow) 17.5

Fat% 4.9

Protein% 3.97

Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.60

Concentrates 4

Willie Treacy – Hackballscross, Co Louth

We have seen a nice amount of rain, which should help us put the farm in a good position for the back end of the year. Cattle are very content, as they are grazing aftergrass from our second cut.

The grazing ground got 25 units/acre of protected urea about a week ago. We have one round left to spread, which we will plan to get out in early September.

We burnt a paddock off for reseeding last week, and we plan to get the seed set later this week.

I took an extra 35 acres of first cut silage this year in June, which has put me in a comfortable position for winter fodder.

Some beef heifers will be housed in early September, and we plan to get them finished and away by Christmas.

System Suckler to finishing

Soil type free draining

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 1,001

Growth (kg/day) 66

Demand (kg/day) 52

Derek O’Donoghue – Salesian College, Co Limerick

This is our first year farming organic. With growth back so much, and with no chemical fertiliser allowed it has been a bit of a struggle. We are following the cattle and lambs with watery slurry, but it is only going out at 1,500 gallons/acre.

Our lambs are going to be weighed next week and if the majority are on target for breeding, we will offload a few older ewes. This will help reduce our demand, allowing us to build up covers for our autumn rotation.

We are only at 80-85% of our winter fodder. This is planning for a five-month winter. If the winter and next spring are favourable, we should be fine. We planned to vaccinate our suckler cows for salmonella, but vaccine availability is scare.

System Suckler and sheep

Soil type free draining

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 527

Growth (kg/day) 31

Demand (kg/day) 17

Stephen Frend – Athleague, Co Roscommon

The continued wet weather has had a severe impact on ground conditions, leaving grazing very difficult. I made the decision to house a group of the more forward weanlings last week, as they were doing far too much damage.

Another group of weanlings are on 12-hour grazings, with a roll of wire being put up to prevent them going over what they have grazed.

Our farm cover is a bit ahead of where I’d like it, and cleanouts at present are poor due to the weather. If it picks up I will probably take one or two paddocks out for bales.

We had our last application of chemical fertiliser last week, spreading 80% of the farm with 25 units/acre of protected urea plus sulphur.

System Suckler to beef

Soil type clay

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 1,103

Growth (kg/day) 42

Demand (kg/day) 57