Katherine's Country: The worst spring in over 20 years

Our local discussion group was due to visit last week. Tim was getting the figures ready and assessing where the farm was at.

“Do you want to come for a walk with me?” he asked. I knew he was referring to a grass walk. Dairy farmers cover several kilometres every day, changing fences and organising the next grazing paddock. Normally we’d have the quadrant in hand, the plastic bag to contain the freshly cut grass and the weighing scales.

Tim believes in the measurement process. But he had measured the week before and he knew that the growth between walks had been negligible due to the extremely low temperatures both above and below ground. He was going to do an “eye ball” measurement.

By the end of March each year, the cows would be grazing in the region of 17kg of grass each per day. We’d be talking about the paddocks that we’d take out for bales to keep the quality of the grass green through the stem to maximise utilisation.

This spring, it is a very different climate. It is harsh, cold and unforgiving to the farmer and the animals. It is seriously challenging to manage and protect what grass is growing. So we set out on our mission to find grass! We did find some but regrowth was just not happening. You must walk to get the true picture.

We were well wrapped up as the weather was so cold. As usual, the dogs were following behind. Tim reminded me of our trip to Lincoln University in New Zealand six years ago. One of the grass specialists we met that day said:

If you don’t find grass then look again!

All the looking in the world was not going to find us the grass we needed to feed the cows on grass only in our grass-based system.

SQUARE PLOTS

Tim changed the fence in the field that is called the sunny side. It is normally a sun trap and a good grass-growing field. The field was divided into four squares via temporary fences. This was something I hadn’t seen on our farm before. At this time of year, the plots are set up for the cows to graze in wedges or triangles.

I noted the difference and Tim explained that the squares mean that there is less concentrated damage to the field by using squares. Access is provided by using fences to create a passage. In the overall scheme of things, it is better grass and field management. There is no waste.

The word waste is laughable this spring. We cannot afford to waste a blade of grass. With the plot set up, we moved on, finding the same story of poor covers of grass in every field. We had 58% of the first round completed but the regrowth was very poor.

Once home, I made a cup of tea and Tim headed for the computer to input our findings. The doorbell rang and I looked around my untidy kitchen. The visitors were Tim’s first cousin Helen and her husband Fergus, who were just dropping by to say hello. I told them that we had been out looking for grass and began to paint the farming picture. They live in Dublin but love the countryside.

I emphasised that it was the worst spring in quite a few years. Tim emerged from the office:

It is the worst spring in 20 years!

I knew that the figures were not good. There was 400kg DM (dry matter) per hectare of a farm cover when we’d required it to be 500kg. Demand exceeded growth. We were fast running out of grass. Measures had to be put in place. The allocation of grass had to be kept at 5kg per cow, supplemented with 8kg of ration and 4kg of silage.

This is the real value of participation in a discussion group; it makes you focus on the figures and to stop every month and take stock. The members get to know each other’s farms, gaining an understanding of the particular type of farming carried out on each.

Over time, the group grows to trust each other and it is a place where one can discuss problems that might arise. More often than not, you find that you are not the first to have the problem. There is some comfort in knowing that others have been in the situation before and invariably there will be advice available.

Peer group advice

The advice from your peer group is valuable for your farm because the members are dealing with the same type of climate, similar soil and proximity to services. The Teagasc advisers stimulate the discussion and explain the science behind research results that might assist the group.

There was a lot of head shaking about the grass situation.

Most farmers were in trouble for grass. Our cows are out full-time while many others have opted to keep them in by night. The Teagasc men explored the various problems from high somatic cell counts to scouring calves. The facilitators outlined how EBI should be used to select the bulls for the coming breeding season and how the various elements of a bulls profile can be interpreted.

Before leaving, one farmer was philosophical about the grass shortage telling the others that the grass will come and next meeting we will be talking about managing the surplus.

Nearly a week out from the visit, I went down the fields with Tim while he was changing fences. We were happy to see that the grass is certainly gathering momentum. Tim is looking forward to better results from the next walk this week. We feel we can see the gap! CL

Read more:

Katherine's Country: Any day can be Mother's Day

Katherine's Country: Aftermath of the snow