Average grass growth rate this week is similar to last week at 74kg per day, which is still really high. Grazing conditions have become a little more challenging with the heavy rain on Tuesday and Wednesday but temperatures are still good and growth remains strong. Utilisation dropped and it has been harder to get a good clean-out. With more rain in the forecast for the weekend, there is a risk of some damage being done on heavy land. Farmers who didn’t get to cut surplus silage over the last two weeks now have to manage at a higher stocking rate.
Average grass growth rate this week is similar to last week at 74kg per day, which is still really high. Grazing conditions have become a little more challenging with the heavy rain on Tuesday and Wednesday but temperatures are still good and growth remains strong.
Utilisation dropped and it has been harder to get a good clean-out. With more rain in the forecast for the weekend, there is a risk of some damage being done on heavy land. Farmers who didn’t get to cut surplus silage over the last two weeks now have to manage at a higher stocking rate.
Demand is higher but lucky for them growth rates are holding well.
Depending on how highly stocked you are, it may be necessary to take a chance and get at least some of the silage cut, even if the risk of it getting wet is high. Having a really high stocking rate is a bigger risk to take and could be more costly.
At this stage, those who cut an early first cut will be looking to get the second cut done soon. All farmers should be aiming to have second cut harvested by the middle of July at the latest to give re-growths a chance to build up for autumn.
On fertiliser, this weather is ideal for urea. Remember, it is cheaper per unit of nitrogen than CAN. Some farmers have both urea and CAN in the yard and will spread either depending on the weather. For those spreading sulphur, the old rule of thumb was 20 units per acre per year and most of this should have been spread by now.
Growth rates are still good, with average growth of 74kg/day.Widespread heavy rain this week means grazing is more difficult.Try and find a window in the weather to get silage cut.Use urea instead of CAN.Steven Fitzgerald
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.07
Growth rate (kg/day) 80
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 831
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.88
Fat % 4.66
Protein % 3.60
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.78
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.2
Grass is flying it again this week at 80kg per day. We’re moving around the farm quickly with previously grazed paddocks being grazed at 16 day intervals and the heavy silage ground coming in to be grazed 26 days after cutting. Paddocks are being cleaned out to 3.5 to 4 cm. We will be cutting our fertilizer rate back to 20 units from the end of this week to stay under 250kg N/ha for the year. We will continue to spread after each grazing. The breeding season is ongoing, with the bulls out for another while and we are keeping an eye on repeats but we are scanning regularly also.
Donal Patton
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.66
Growth rate (kg/day) 78
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 570
Yield (l/cow/day) 21
Fat % 4.45
Protein % 3.5
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.72
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
We got a good growth rate this week of 78kg per day but we didn’t generate any surplus grass. Average farm cover is 570kg and cover per cow is 155kg. The pre-grazing yields are around 1,200kg of young leafy grass but the cows are moving through them fast. I’m afraid that pre-grazing yields will drop to around 1,000 soon so we have increased the meal to 2kg per cow just to help hold rotation length. The next paddocks on the wedge have lower covers, after being grazed or cut for silage. Milk production is holding steady but protein was higher this time last year.
Kevin Moran
Caherlistrane, Co Galway
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.96
Growth rate (kg/day) 102
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 647
Yield (l/cow/day) 19
Fat % 4.66
Protein % 3.43
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.56
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.5
The farm is flying it with no let-up in growth rate. We took out a good few paddocks for silage. At this stage, over 70% of the farm has been cut once, with about 350 bales made from the platform. These will be useful next autumn and spring. We are spreading 30 units of nitrogen after grazing. We have both CAN and urea in the yard and will spread either depending on the weather. We got 91% of the herd submitted in the first three weeks, which is much better than last year and a good few seem to have held but it’s early days yet. An Angus bull is running with the herd now.
Conor O’Leary
Donoughmore, Co Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.25
Growth rate (kg/day) 70
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 515
Yield (l/cow/day) 25.46
Fat % 3.97
Protein % 3.52
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.96
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
I took out two paddocks for silage this week that dropped the average farm cover a bit lower than I’d like but the grass quality in the paddocks was too poor for grazing. The overall stocking rate here is 3.8 cows/ha, so I rarely have to deal with big surpluses. Pre-grazing yields are always around 1,600kg and I think this costs us a bit in milk compared to grazing nicer covers of 1,400kg. At this stage, a little over half the farm has been either cut for bales or topped. I’m spreading 38 units of CAN plus sulphur after each grazing. I spread 1.5 bags/acre of 18:6:12 earlier in the year. Cows are on 2kg of meal.
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Grass+ beef: Rain hampering grass utilisation in some parts
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