Pasturebase Ireland figures this week show that 35% of farmers have a cover below 600kg DM/ha, which spells trouble for these farms in the near future.

When a grass cover dips below 550-600kg, then one of two things have happened; either there is very little regrowth on already grazed paddocks or the demand is significantly higher than the growth. For this spring, it’s a combination of both really.

If you are in this bracket of farmer where cover is significantly low, then action needs to be taken. For dairy farms, cows need to be housed at night and fed silage, while drystock farmers may need to delay turnout or rehouse some non-priority animals.

To begin the second rotation on 7 April, the first 4-5 grazed paddocks must have a cover of over 800 kg DM/ha. If the cover is below this threshold, you will need to extend the rotation start date into April.

For many farms the AFC should be at least above 650-700 kg/ha at the start of second rotation. It’s possible to mix the first and second rotation, grazing heavy first rotations by day and lighter second rotations at night, which will allow for adequate intake without compromising energy consumption.

Even though grass is tight on farms, predictions indicate that air temperatures should rise next week, and with soils being fairly free of water, their temperatures should rise fairly rapidly.

For farmers who haven’t spread any fertiliser in the last three weeks, the weekend or early next week would see a good return on application.