Grass growth averaged 67kg per day for the last week. In many parts, the heavy rain of last week slowed growth rates but in most cases farms are still growing ahead of demand. The heavy rain did make grazing conditions a bit more difficult on heavy land and utilisation dropped so cows went through area faster than normal.
The outlook for the next seven days is for more mixed weather to continue. This is continuing to pose a challenge for those looking to remove second cuts and surplus paddocks.
My advice is that if you are highly stocked on the milking platform and you have silage to cut it is better to get the silage off in mixed weather than wait for good weather and mess up the grazing.
Forecast
The forecast for the week is mixed, which means sunny spells and showers, so if you’re under pressure with a high proportion of land closed then you should be brave and take a chance on the weather. Remember, as soon as the field is cut it’s back growing. You need this grass in three weeks’ time when building up autumn covers.
On fertiliser, I think blanket spreading at this stage in the year is a good idea. If you are spreading after grazing, and following the grass wedge then the highest-growing paddocks are going to get more fertiliser and the lowest growing or least grazed paddocks get less – further reducing their potential to grow. At least with blanket spreading every paddock is getting the same treatment.
However, I wouldn’t be against giving reseeds an extra 10 or 20% of nitrogen. Spreading every three weeks is better than spreading every four weeks.
Grass growth rates are holding up – average is 67kg per dayForecast is for another week of mixed weatherTake a chance and get silage cut if at all possibleStart blanket spreading fertiliser to give every paddock an equal opportunity at growth.Steven Fitzgerald
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.7
Growth rate (kg/day) 101
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 822
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.88
Fat % 4.62
Protein % 3.62
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.77
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.2
Growth is very good so we have increased stocking rate to 4.7 cows/ha for the next two weeks by skipping over a few more paddocks. Fertiliser has been reduced to 20 units/acre of sulpha CAN which we are spreading after each grazing. Cows are milking well at 1.8kg milk solids per day and residuals are at 4cm. Grass dry matter is low at 14% with a lot of after-grass in the rotation and poorer-quality paddocks have been selected for surpluses. This is my last week on Grass+ as Curtins Farm manager as I am leaving to manage the home farm in west Waterford.
Donal Patton
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.43
Growth rate (kg/day) 62
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 516
Yield (l/cow/day) 21
Fat % 4.46
Protein % 3.56
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.73
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
Ground conditions deteriorated over the weekend, with utilisation starting to suffer a bit. The 4.5ha of reseed is ready to spray but it’s too wet to travel. The priority is to get this done if weather improves. Pre-grazing covers are below target at around 1,000kg so have increased meal feeding to 3kg per day and will review at the weekend. If it is still too low we will feed bales for a few days just to help catch up. We spread some DAP (20-18-0) on some of low phosphorus paddocks last week and we got an almost instant response with increased growth.
Daniel Barrett
Teagasc Solohead
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.92
Growth rate (kg/day) 57
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 767
Yield (l/cow/day) 22.5
Fat % 4.21
Protein % 3.62
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.81
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 1
Growth is holding steady, the stocking rate is low as we don’t have any designated second-cut silage ground, and instead we just cut surplus paddocks for bales when they arise. We are blanket-spreading fertiliser. Last week we spread 27 units of 19:0:15 across the farm. Some of the paddocks look stemmy but we will skip over these. Breeding appears to be going well. Our scanning results tell us that 62% held to AI in the first three weeks. The bulls are leaving the heifers this week and going in with the cows for the last two weeks. We got 67mm of rain in June.
Michael Gowen
Kilworth, Co Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.7
Growth rate (kg/day) 78
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 608
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.55
Fat % 4.46
Protein % 3.58
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.7
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0
I’m currently on an 18-day rotation length. Pre-grazing yield is about 1,200kg/ha. I’ll start building up covers next month by extending the round length but at the moment I’m happy to take out surplus paddocks for bales and stay on an 18-day round. The overall stocking rate is 3.7, so I need to get closing covers right. I’ve 130kg of meal fed so far this year and don’t plan to feed much more. I’m currently spreading urea at a rate of 20 units/acre. Protein dropped a bit this week as I was grazing a paddock that I should really have skipped but I’m hoping it will rise again.
Grass growth averaged 67kg per day for the last week. In many parts, the heavy rain of last week slowed growth rates but in most cases farms are still growing ahead of demand. The heavy rain did make grazing conditions a bit more difficult on heavy land and utilisation dropped so cows went through area faster than normal.
The outlook for the next seven days is for more mixed weather to continue. This is continuing to pose a challenge for those looking to remove second cuts and surplus paddocks.
My advice is that if you are highly stocked on the milking platform and you have silage to cut it is better to get the silage off in mixed weather than wait for good weather and mess up the grazing.
Forecast
The forecast for the week is mixed, which means sunny spells and showers, so if you’re under pressure with a high proportion of land closed then you should be brave and take a chance on the weather. Remember, as soon as the field is cut it’s back growing. You need this grass in three weeks’ time when building up autumn covers.
On fertiliser, I think blanket spreading at this stage in the year is a good idea. If you are spreading after grazing, and following the grass wedge then the highest-growing paddocks are going to get more fertiliser and the lowest growing or least grazed paddocks get less – further reducing their potential to grow. At least with blanket spreading every paddock is getting the same treatment.
However, I wouldn’t be against giving reseeds an extra 10 or 20% of nitrogen. Spreading every three weeks is better than spreading every four weeks.
Grass growth rates are holding up – average is 67kg per dayForecast is for another week of mixed weatherTake a chance and get silage cut if at all possibleStart blanket spreading fertiliser to give every paddock an equal opportunity at growth.Steven Fitzgerald
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.7
Growth rate (kg/day) 101
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 822
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.88
Fat % 4.62
Protein % 3.62
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.77
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.2
Growth is very good so we have increased stocking rate to 4.7 cows/ha for the next two weeks by skipping over a few more paddocks. Fertiliser has been reduced to 20 units/acre of sulpha CAN which we are spreading after each grazing. Cows are milking well at 1.8kg milk solids per day and residuals are at 4cm. Grass dry matter is low at 14% with a lot of after-grass in the rotation and poorer-quality paddocks have been selected for surpluses. This is my last week on Grass+ as Curtins Farm manager as I am leaving to manage the home farm in west Waterford.
Donal Patton
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.43
Growth rate (kg/day) 62
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 516
Yield (l/cow/day) 21
Fat % 4.46
Protein % 3.56
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.73
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
Ground conditions deteriorated over the weekend, with utilisation starting to suffer a bit. The 4.5ha of reseed is ready to spray but it’s too wet to travel. The priority is to get this done if weather improves. Pre-grazing covers are below target at around 1,000kg so have increased meal feeding to 3kg per day and will review at the weekend. If it is still too low we will feed bales for a few days just to help catch up. We spread some DAP (20-18-0) on some of low phosphorus paddocks last week and we got an almost instant response with increased growth.
Daniel Barrett
Teagasc Solohead
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.92
Growth rate (kg/day) 57
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 767
Yield (l/cow/day) 22.5
Fat % 4.21
Protein % 3.62
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.81
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 1
Growth is holding steady, the stocking rate is low as we don’t have any designated second-cut silage ground, and instead we just cut surplus paddocks for bales when they arise. We are blanket-spreading fertiliser. Last week we spread 27 units of 19:0:15 across the farm. Some of the paddocks look stemmy but we will skip over these. Breeding appears to be going well. Our scanning results tell us that 62% held to AI in the first three weeks. The bulls are leaving the heifers this week and going in with the cows for the last two weeks. We got 67mm of rain in June.
Michael Gowen
Kilworth, Co Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.7
Growth rate (kg/day) 78
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 608
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.55
Fat % 4.46
Protein % 3.58
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.7
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0
I’m currently on an 18-day rotation length. Pre-grazing yield is about 1,200kg/ha. I’ll start building up covers next month by extending the round length but at the moment I’m happy to take out surplus paddocks for bales and stay on an 18-day round. The overall stocking rate is 3.7, so I need to get closing covers right. I’ve 130kg of meal fed so far this year and don’t plan to feed much more. I’m currently spreading urea at a rate of 20 units/acre. Protein dropped a bit this week as I was grazing a paddock that I should really have skipped but I’m hoping it will rise again.
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