Strom passes but heavy rain will be worse

The effects of storm Ophelia on grazing and ground conditions were minimal enough in most parts. Stock that were outdoors managed away as normal with minimal interest in what was happening around them as the storm brought wind more than rain.

But the forecast is bad, with widespread heavy rain forecast for today (Thursday) and tomorrow.

This will make grazing conditions difficult and cows may have to be housed for periods.

Grass growth continues to defy expectations, with the average growth rate recorded on our Grass+ farms of 38kg/day when the 10-year average is 21kg/day. That said, average farm cover, which determines the amount of grass on farms, has fallen below target on most farms. At this stage, it should be around 1,100kg/ha but most farms are at 800 to 900kg/ha. The thing to do now is to try and slow down the drop as much as possible. While this is easier when growth is good, air temperatures decreased sharply on Wednesday so I expect growth rates to tail off fast.

Some farmers have started to house at night to reduce demand and stretch out the remaining grass for as long as possible.

If cows are getting silage, the grass allocation should be spot on to ensure a good clean-out.

Sometimes, it’s easier to manage if the herd is either in or out full-time. Keeping them in at night has the same effect on reducing grass eaten as being in full-time for 3.5 days.

So if you have to reduce demand, consider housing full-time on the wet days and grazing full-time on the dry days. That said, there are advantages of keeping some grass in the diet every day.

Remember to keep an eye on closing targets. At this stage, between 40% and 50% of the farm should be closed and you should be on target to have between 60% and 70% closed by the end of the month.

Teagasc Curtins Farm

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.76

Growth rate (kg/day) 40

Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1,099

Yield (l/cow/day) 14.7

Fat % 5.32

Protein % 4.33

Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.46

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 1

Average farm cover is holding well. Target for this week was 1,155kg/ha so we are supplementing with 1kg of meal. Pre-grazing covers are 2,000kg. We are allocating grass in 12- or 24-hour breaks depending on weather. Utilisation is reasonably good considering the weather. Cows were housed full-time on Monday morning until Tuesday morning and we milked them early on Monday to avoid working in the storm. Rotation length is set at 38 days. To date, we have 35% of the farm closed. We spread the last of the slurry/dirty water last Friday.

Tullaroan, Kilkenny

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.08

Growth rate (kg/day) 45

Average farm cover (kg/ha) 760

Yield (l/cow/day) 16.14

Fat % 5.23

Protein % 4.14

Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.56

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4m 8s

We started to house at night since the weekend as average farm cover has dropped so we need to reduce the demand. We’re happy enough with where we are because we have over 54% of the farm grazed and growth is still good. By right we should have put in more feed a few weeks ago when the weather turned wet. We didn’t because on this high and heavy clay soil we knew we would be struggling to graze full-time by late October so we said we’d graze on when conditions were better and it allowed us to get more of the farm grazed in reasonably good conditions.

Manorcunningham, Donegal

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.5

Growth rate (kg/day) 34

Average farm cover (kg/ha) 745

Yield (l/cow/day) 16.5

Fat % 4.6

Protein % 3.9

Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.45

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4m 8s

Storm Ophelia didn’t really affect us at all. I guess we’re used to the wind. We housed the herd full-time on Monday and Tuesday as it was fairly wet. They will only go out now by day for the next few weeks. We have about half of the farm grazed and pre-grazing yields are good at 1,500kg, so clean-out is good. Overall, the weather hasn’t been that bad and we are getting on OK, with very little damage being done. Cows are milking well but protein dropped when we went in on silage. We will finish grazing in early November.

Teagasc Ballyhaise

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.55

Growth rate (kg/day) 22

Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1,030

Yield (l/cow/day) 12.2

Fat % 4.95

Protein % 4.17

Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.15

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

The storm brought a lot of wind but not a huge amount of rain and I think ground conditions actually improved after it. We kept the cows in and milked them once on Monday but they are back out now again on 12-hour breaks. Average farm cover is good and we are in a good position.

We have 40% of the farm grazed and the target is to have 70% grazed by the end of the month. We are grazing covers of 2,100kg and cows are on 3kg of meal. Milk yield has dropped a good bit.

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Ophelia blows full-time whistle on 2017 grazing game