The grass notes over the past few weeks have been as focused as much on the weather as grass itself, such is the control it has on growth.

For the most part, growth is managing to keep in line with demand on drystock farms, although this is a very general statement, with some in the south east really suffering the last week to 10 days. However, quality seems to be a much greater challenge for many, as swards have become stressed with the lack of moisture in soil.

This has made grazing out these swards extremely tricky, but with growth at current levels, it’s probably not best to mow out these swards.

Reports from farmers have indicated that mown swards are extremely slow to come back, and if rainfall does not correct soil moisture deficits fairly soon, growth could rapidly fall on farms right across the country.

To play it safe, these swards should be grazed as best as possible, with the hope being that any correction in quality, be it mowing out as surplus or topping, can be completed the next time they are grazed. If there is sufficient moisture in soil, fertiliser for grazing and second cut silage should be applied sooner rather than later to stem the slipping growth rates.

Farmers

Derek O’Donoghue – Salesian College, Co Limerick

Last week we weaned the lambs and let them run with a batch of calves. This has been done two weeks earlier than previous years due to the drought conditions, but also because we wanted the ewes to graze a field which has a strong grass cover as it has been selected for reseeding this year.

All reseeding for the past number of years has been completed using a multispecies mix with white clover and plantain, along with a small quantity of red clover introduced into the sward also.

The lambs have been running with 65 Friesian calves along with being creep fed 500g of meal.

We haven’t spread any fertiliser in the past two weeks due to the extreme heat, with only 13-14ml of rain received since Friday.

System Dairy beef

Soil Type Free draining

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 474

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 36

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 23

Stephen Frend – Newford Suckler Farm, Co Galway

The heavy grass covers over 1,400kg DM/ha which we intended to take out for silage remained in the grazing rotation, except for one field which we took out for silage.

Grass growth has been slow with this heat and the heavy covers relieved some of the pressure for grass as we are now feeding out bales to the cattle.

No fertiliser has been spread since 29 May, except for a half bag last week which showed little response. The silage ground is only being spread with slurry this evening (Wednesday), and we hope that the showers which are forecast will allow it to get into the ground.

Clean outs have been good although the cattle are being forced to graze grass which has gone to stem.

System Suckler to beef

Soil Type Free draining

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 649

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 33

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 71

Wesley Brown, Dunraymond – Co Monaghan

The first cut silage averaged ten bales/acre. Slurry went out at 3,000gal/acre using a trailing shoe and there was sufficient dew at night to get value out of the slurry.

Slurry was spread on Friday with hope of rain which didn’t arrive. I took out some heavy paddocks for silage while leaving some for the cattle to strip graze as grass growth ground to a halt.

I currently have another seven days grazing before I start my rotation again, but in the meantime I’d be hoping to see rain across the weekend to kick start grass growth again as parts of the farm are beginning to burn up.

The silage ground is slowly coming up with paddocks grazed to a 4cm residual not showing much signs of growth at the moment.

System Suckler to beef

Soil Type Heavy

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 861

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 51