Culling cows: This is peak season for scanning cows. Anecdotal evidence would say that results are mixed, but that’s probably the case every year. After scanning, the question arises as to what to do with the empty cows. I looked at the impact on a grass and feed budget of removing cull cows now, as opposed to removing them at the middle of December. The analysis clearly showed that for a typical dairy farm if say 20% of cows are removed now, there should be a lot more grass in the diet of the remaining cows for the rest of the grazing season. This reduces meal and silage usage, which lowers costs.

Selling cull cows earlier usually commands a higher price compared to selling them later. The flip side is less milk will be produced because there are fewer cows on the farm but the saving in feed and the higher sale price still show it’s far more beneficial to sell cull cows early. The financial gain for a typical 100-cow farm is over €5,000. It may be more marginal for very low-stocked farms that typically use very little meal or farms with very high solids commanding a very high milk price. See more ways to manage milk price cuts on pages 28 and 29.

Grass growth: High grass growth at this time of year is good news because it means farms can build up grass cheaply and quickly but it can also lead to problems with quality and utilisation. Those on heavy soils do not want to build up too much grass or risk not being able to graze it. Having to take out surplus paddocks in September is undesirable. For one thing, those fields will be slow to come back, meaning there’s a greater chance of a grass deficit later in the autumn. However, given where grass growth is at, most farms will have no choice but to deal with surplus grass over the coming week or 10 days. Decisions are much easier when there is a grass budget completed. Consider the following:

  • If there is a real surplus, remove it in the form of silage this week or next week, even if that means cutting low covers for silage.
  • Reduce supplement now to the bare minimum in order to consume as much grass as possible.
  • Consider bringing in-calf heifers and other stock on to the grazing platform in order to increase demand and keep on top of grass. Building up a higher-than-target cover or surplus grass on an outside block is less of an issue.
  • Reduce nitrogen fertiliser rates.

    • Deadlines: The last day to spread nitrogen or phosphorus fertiliser is 14 September and the last day to spread slurry is 30 September. The slurry deadline has been brought forward this year so make sure to have contractors lined up to have tanks emptied before the closed period starts. Soiled water can continue to be spread up to 10 December this year. From 1 September, any farmer who intends to buy fertiliser must be registered on the new fertiliser database on the Agfood website. Closing fertiliser stocks should be entered into the database by 15 October.