The past week has been all about the weather, the Beast from the East and Storm Emma. Luckily, the northwest escaped the worst of the weather, with only a light sprinkling of snow in west Sligo.

Apart from the cold easterly blowing wind, hard frozen ground, frozen water troughs and drinkers, there was no serious accumulations of snow to deal with.

My great plan to get fertiliser out earlier than other years has not yet happened

I let out some calved cows and calves the week before the big freeze to try to clean off some silage ground and get grass growing.

These cows and calves remained outside during the cold snap, but had good shelter behind hedges and I put out a bale of silage on Thursday for these cattle for some extra feed and comfort.

Fertiliser

My great plan to get fertiliser out earlier than other years has not yet happened, due in the first instance to wet ground and now due to low soil temperatures.

However, I am hopeful that after this spell of weather my spring fertiliser and grazing plan will kick into action.

This week has thrown a spanner in the works

A few loads of slurry were spread after the closed period in order to alleviate the pressure building with tanks filling up to the slats. With tanks starting to fill again, it is near time to empty these tanks completely for the year.

Land conditions have improved dramatically since the middle of February and there shouldn’t be any issues finding suitable ground to travel on with this slurry.

I will try to get some soil samples lifted before applying slurry in order to see has there been any improvement since the last samples taken.

Particularly given the amount of lime spread in 2017, I am expecting to see an improvement in soil pH levels.

If, as expected, the pH level of the soil has improved, then I should get a better response to artificial fertilisers spread this year and increased grass growth. I am especially aiming for increased grass growth at the shoulders of the year in spring and autumn.

Grass growth

When I compare my grass growth figures using PastureBase, to other similar type farmers, my grass growth rates are slower to take off in the spring and quicker to slow down in the autumn.

In order to reduce wintering costs, such as silage and slurry, and improve animal performance, this needs to change.

The first week in March is normally a week when many farmers are getting the first stock out to grass after a long winter. This week has thrown a spanner in the works, but hopefully things can get back on track quickly and grass is the main topic of discussion from now on.

Read more

Farmer Writes: preparing for the storm, calving and grazing

Farmer Writes: taking a different approach to fertiliser use