Heavy rain and thundery showers over the past week have failed to dampen growth rates too much. Average growth rates are still in the region of 68kg/day.
Ground conditions and growth rates have deteriorated on some heavy farms in the west, but farmers in the east and south will be happy to see moisture as it ensures good growth rates into August.
Some fields are looking very hungry and washed-out.
Growth
Grass that was growing well all year is hungry for nitrogen and this is probably causing stress and secondary seed heads are emerging.
Some farmers will now blanket-spread the whole farm for the next two or three rounds of fertiliser as it ensures every acre will get spread.
Waiting for hungry-looking paddocks to be grazed before spreading fertiliser will reduce growth rates.
Thoughts are now turning towards building up covers for the autumn. How early to start building depends on stocking rate.
Highly stocked farms should be looking towards adding one day a week to the rotation length from now on, but lower or more appropriately stocked farms can delay the start of the build-up by a week or two.
Rotation
Rotation length at the moment should be around 21 days and average farm cover per cow should be around 180kg/cow.
If generating surplus grass, you must get this removed as soon as possible and get the farm back growing again. The longer this is left, the slower the regrowth and the less grass that will be on the farm in autumn.
Aim to get three grazings per paddock, unless ground conditions are poor and you need to avoid doing damage. If land is very wet, use on/off grazing to keep grass into cows rather than housing. This option should be avoided if at all possible.
Growth rates are holding steady at 68kg/day, despite heavy rain in some parts.Now is a good time to blanket-spread nitrogen, particularly on farms that are looking hungry. Start building up covers for the autumn from now on.
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.11
Growth rate (kg/day) 58
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 216
Yield (l/cow/day) 18.5
Fat % 4.92
Protein % 3.67
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.65
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4
Grass growth has recovered somewhat but we are still catching up on where we need to be. While average farm cover is where we need it to be, the pre-grazing yield is on the low side at 900 to 1,100kg. I’d prefer to be going into covers of 1,300 to 1,500kg/ha so we are continuing to feed meal for another week.
We have 8.5tDM/ha grown to date. We are spreading 15 units/acre after grazing.
We are reseeding using a mix of Abergain and Aberchoice along with 1kg/acre of Coolfin clover. We are going to disc and then sow with a one-pass.
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.04
Growth rate (kg/day) 118
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 201
Yield (l/cow/day) 17.5
Fat % 4.69
Protein % 3.61
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.5
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 1
The farm is flying it again with growth rates over 100kg and demand was only at 50kg/day so we had to skip over more paddocks.
We closed off 25% of the farm for bales and will cut these at the earliest chance, or half chance. Normally I’d be building up grass from now on but if we didn’t skip over these paddocks we’d be building up too soon.
We are grazing covers of 1,600kg but quality is good as it’s after-grass.
The bulls left the herd on Wednesday and we will do a scan in mid-September. It’s too early to tell how breeding has gone.
Kilcullen, Co Kildare
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.26
Growth rate (kg/day) 45
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 133
Yield (l/cow/day) 18.18
Fat % 5.6
Protein % 4.03
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.56
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0
The farm was drying out big time over the last few weeks and I was in trouble but the rain came early in the week and things are looking better already.
We’ve a dry farm in a low rainfall area so we can suffer from drought. Pre-grazing yields are good at 1,500kg.
All the farm is now available for grazing. with no land closed for grazing. I’m going to blanket-spread one bag/acre of Sweetgrass across the farm this week. I’ve 9t/ha of grass grown to date, last year we grew 16t/ha but this year I think we might grow 18t/ha.
Castlebar, Co Mayo
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.46
Growth rate (kg/day) 61
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 4.46
Yield (l/cow/day) 14
Fat % 4.65
Protein % 3.79
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.22
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.5
Grass growth slowed a bit in the past week after getting a lot of rain. Prior to this it was bombing it all summer and we were consistently growing around 100kg per day.
A good share of the milking block has been reseeded so I need to mind them, but the ground is still good in most places.
Pre-grazing yields are around 1,300kg now, but they were higher and it was very hard to get a good clean-out on the high covers.
I’m currently spreading SulCAN. It’s my second year milking once a day and I expect the cows will produce 330kg milk solids this year.
Read More
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Heavy rain and thundery showers over the past week have failed to dampen growth rates too much. Average growth rates are still in the region of 68kg/day.
Ground conditions and growth rates have deteriorated on some heavy farms in the west, but farmers in the east and south will be happy to see moisture as it ensures good growth rates into August.
Some fields are looking very hungry and washed-out.
Growth
Grass that was growing well all year is hungry for nitrogen and this is probably causing stress and secondary seed heads are emerging.
Some farmers will now blanket-spread the whole farm for the next two or three rounds of fertiliser as it ensures every acre will get spread.
Waiting for hungry-looking paddocks to be grazed before spreading fertiliser will reduce growth rates.
Thoughts are now turning towards building up covers for the autumn. How early to start building depends on stocking rate.
Highly stocked farms should be looking towards adding one day a week to the rotation length from now on, but lower or more appropriately stocked farms can delay the start of the build-up by a week or two.
Rotation
Rotation length at the moment should be around 21 days and average farm cover per cow should be around 180kg/cow.
If generating surplus grass, you must get this removed as soon as possible and get the farm back growing again. The longer this is left, the slower the regrowth and the less grass that will be on the farm in autumn.
Aim to get three grazings per paddock, unless ground conditions are poor and you need to avoid doing damage. If land is very wet, use on/off grazing to keep grass into cows rather than housing. This option should be avoided if at all possible.
Growth rates are holding steady at 68kg/day, despite heavy rain in some parts.Now is a good time to blanket-spread nitrogen, particularly on farms that are looking hungry. Start building up covers for the autumn from now on.
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.11
Growth rate (kg/day) 58
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 216
Yield (l/cow/day) 18.5
Fat % 4.92
Protein % 3.67
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.65
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4
Grass growth has recovered somewhat but we are still catching up on where we need to be. While average farm cover is where we need it to be, the pre-grazing yield is on the low side at 900 to 1,100kg. I’d prefer to be going into covers of 1,300 to 1,500kg/ha so we are continuing to feed meal for another week.
We have 8.5tDM/ha grown to date. We are spreading 15 units/acre after grazing.
We are reseeding using a mix of Abergain and Aberchoice along with 1kg/acre of Coolfin clover. We are going to disc and then sow with a one-pass.
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.04
Growth rate (kg/day) 118
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 201
Yield (l/cow/day) 17.5
Fat % 4.69
Protein % 3.61
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.5
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 1
The farm is flying it again with growth rates over 100kg and demand was only at 50kg/day so we had to skip over more paddocks.
We closed off 25% of the farm for bales and will cut these at the earliest chance, or half chance. Normally I’d be building up grass from now on but if we didn’t skip over these paddocks we’d be building up too soon.
We are grazing covers of 1,600kg but quality is good as it’s after-grass.
The bulls left the herd on Wednesday and we will do a scan in mid-September. It’s too early to tell how breeding has gone.
Kilcullen, Co Kildare
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.26
Growth rate (kg/day) 45
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 133
Yield (l/cow/day) 18.18
Fat % 5.6
Protein % 4.03
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.56
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0
The farm was drying out big time over the last few weeks and I was in trouble but the rain came early in the week and things are looking better already.
We’ve a dry farm in a low rainfall area so we can suffer from drought. Pre-grazing yields are good at 1,500kg.
All the farm is now available for grazing. with no land closed for grazing. I’m going to blanket-spread one bag/acre of Sweetgrass across the farm this week. I’ve 9t/ha of grass grown to date, last year we grew 16t/ha but this year I think we might grow 18t/ha.
Castlebar, Co Mayo
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.46
Growth rate (kg/day) 61
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 4.46
Yield (l/cow/day) 14
Fat % 4.65
Protein % 3.79
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.22
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.5
Grass growth slowed a bit in the past week after getting a lot of rain. Prior to this it was bombing it all summer and we were consistently growing around 100kg per day.
A good share of the milking block has been reseeded so I need to mind them, but the ground is still good in most places.
Pre-grazing yields are around 1,300kg now, but they were higher and it was very hard to get a good clean-out on the high covers.
I’m currently spreading SulCAN. It’s my second year milking once a day and I expect the cows will produce 330kg milk solids this year.
Read More
Grass Plus beef: Big contrast in ground conditions across country
‘Cautious optimisim’ for dairy but volatility to remain for beef farmers
85% of dairy farmers SDAS-approved
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