From what seemed like an endless wait for the weather to turn around, it is amazing how much can change in a week.
The six-month winter has created a backlog of work, from slurry to fertiliser, with breeding and silage just around the corner.
The return to normality for grazing has been great, but there are some challenges farmers must overcome in the second rotation.
Most of the grazing in the first rotation was far less than desired, with the exception of some paddocks.
Correcting paddocks is going to be crucial to regain quality in grass, as there was 200-300kg DM/ha left behind in the first rotation and there is a worry that milk production will be further hindered due to poor grass quality in the diet.
The only way this can be done is by walking the farm regularly, ensuring to graze paddocks at no higher than 1,400kg DM/ha.
If grass is beginning to get ahead of cows, cut out some paddocks to get back on track.
The wet spring meant that paddocks were damaged more than usual, so picking out paddocks for reseeding should be done promptly.
Higher growth rates in the coming weeks will allow you to take out some paddocks for reseeding.
For heavier farms that haven’t yet began second rotation, allowing cows to transition from first to second round grass should be done for the last few days of the first rotation, as first round grass is likely to have covers over 2,000kg DM/ha.
More normalised grazing conditions with better weather in the past week.An opportunity to catch up with slurry and fertiliser.Farmers should be back to walking the farm at least once a week.Heavier farms should transition the last few days of first rotation to avoid a sudden drop in butterfat.
Danny Bermingham – Doonbeg, Co Clare
We have 20ac closed off for long-term silage on the milking platform. That has been spread with 60 units of nitrogen/ac. The rest of the platform was blanket spread with 32 units of nitrogen/ac last week.
Demand for grass is high now, but cows are very content. They are heading into covers of 2,000kg DM/ha. I would be happy if growth stayed where it is for another week to get through heavier covers.
It is amazing what a difference a week can make for ground conditions. With that being said, if we were to get 20ml of rain again, cows would be back marking ground.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.38
Growth Rate (kg/day) 17
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1,071
Yield (l/cow) 25.5
Fat% 4.81
Protein% 3.36
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2.08
Concentrates 5.5kg
Sean O’Donnell – Ballina, Co Mayo
We have one paddock that hasn’t been grazed yet that we’ll cut for bales soon. It was just too wet all along to graze and the cover has gone too strong now.
We are about five or six days into the second rotation. Cows are heading into covers of 1,500kg DM/ha, and there are higher covers but we need them as stocking rate is high. We have one paddock out for reseeding and another for calves.
Half of the silage ground is closed for cutting on 10 May. It got 50 units of nitrogen/ac. This will be silage for milking cows. The rest of the silage will be cut at the end of May and has got 80 units of nitrogen per acre.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.88
Growth Rate (kg/day) 36
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 742
Yield (l/cow) 24
Fat% 5.01
Protein% 3.65
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2.08
Concentrates 3kg
Kevin Brennan – Paulstown, Co Kilkenny
We grazed about 25-30% of the farm during the wet weather. There are strong covers of up to 1,800kg DM/ha, so I want to get grazing them again. We decided to cut out the last 25% of the farm to graze for bales.
There was about 3,000kg DM/ha on these paddocks, so it’s a matter of cleaning these off now and going again. Cows dropped in litres when turned out on grass, but are slowly recovering. We have gotten a bag of 38% urea/ac last week on the milking platform.
We were feeding higher rates of meal in the parlour up until today. I’m still going to feed 3kg with breeding coming up soon.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 4.27
Growth Rate (kg/day) 64
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1,760
Yield (l/cow) 22.5
Fat% 4.45
Protein% 3.09
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.72
Concentrates 3kg
From what seemed like an endless wait for the weather to turn around, it is amazing how much can change in a week.
The six-month winter has created a backlog of work, from slurry to fertiliser, with breeding and silage just around the corner.
The return to normality for grazing has been great, but there are some challenges farmers must overcome in the second rotation.
Most of the grazing in the first rotation was far less than desired, with the exception of some paddocks.
Correcting paddocks is going to be crucial to regain quality in grass, as there was 200-300kg DM/ha left behind in the first rotation and there is a worry that milk production will be further hindered due to poor grass quality in the diet.
The only way this can be done is by walking the farm regularly, ensuring to graze paddocks at no higher than 1,400kg DM/ha.
If grass is beginning to get ahead of cows, cut out some paddocks to get back on track.
The wet spring meant that paddocks were damaged more than usual, so picking out paddocks for reseeding should be done promptly.
Higher growth rates in the coming weeks will allow you to take out some paddocks for reseeding.
For heavier farms that haven’t yet began second rotation, allowing cows to transition from first to second round grass should be done for the last few days of the first rotation, as first round grass is likely to have covers over 2,000kg DM/ha.
More normalised grazing conditions with better weather in the past week.An opportunity to catch up with slurry and fertiliser.Farmers should be back to walking the farm at least once a week.Heavier farms should transition the last few days of first rotation to avoid a sudden drop in butterfat.
Danny Bermingham – Doonbeg, Co Clare
We have 20ac closed off for long-term silage on the milking platform. That has been spread with 60 units of nitrogen/ac. The rest of the platform was blanket spread with 32 units of nitrogen/ac last week.
Demand for grass is high now, but cows are very content. They are heading into covers of 2,000kg DM/ha. I would be happy if growth stayed where it is for another week to get through heavier covers.
It is amazing what a difference a week can make for ground conditions. With that being said, if we were to get 20ml of rain again, cows would be back marking ground.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.38
Growth Rate (kg/day) 17
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1,071
Yield (l/cow) 25.5
Fat% 4.81
Protein% 3.36
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2.08
Concentrates 5.5kg
Sean O’Donnell – Ballina, Co Mayo
We have one paddock that hasn’t been grazed yet that we’ll cut for bales soon. It was just too wet all along to graze and the cover has gone too strong now.
We are about five or six days into the second rotation. Cows are heading into covers of 1,500kg DM/ha, and there are higher covers but we need them as stocking rate is high. We have one paddock out for reseeding and another for calves.
Half of the silage ground is closed for cutting on 10 May. It got 50 units of nitrogen/ac. This will be silage for milking cows. The rest of the silage will be cut at the end of May and has got 80 units of nitrogen per acre.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.88
Growth Rate (kg/day) 36
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 742
Yield (l/cow) 24
Fat% 5.01
Protein% 3.65
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2.08
Concentrates 3kg
Kevin Brennan – Paulstown, Co Kilkenny
We grazed about 25-30% of the farm during the wet weather. There are strong covers of up to 1,800kg DM/ha, so I want to get grazing them again. We decided to cut out the last 25% of the farm to graze for bales.
There was about 3,000kg DM/ha on these paddocks, so it’s a matter of cleaning these off now and going again. Cows dropped in litres when turned out on grass, but are slowly recovering. We have gotten a bag of 38% urea/ac last week on the milking platform.
We were feeding higher rates of meal in the parlour up until today. I’m still going to feed 3kg with breeding coming up soon.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 4.27
Growth Rate (kg/day) 64
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1,760
Yield (l/cow) 22.5
Fat% 4.45
Protein% 3.09
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.72
Concentrates 3kg
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