Average grass growth rates across the country are down to 57kg per day. This is the average and it represents a big reduction on last week’s growth of 72kg/day. Within this average there are some farmers recording growth rates in the 20s and they are now in real trouble for grass. Other farmers continue to grow in excess of demand so are still in a good position.With no rain and only high temperatures in the forecast, there is cause to be concerned. It’s time to park up the mowers and toppers. A bit like in spring, it’s important not to let average farm cover run down too low. The lowest I would like to see it is at 500kg/ha. For a farm stocked at three cows/ha this is a cover of 166kg per cow and at four cows/ha this is a cover per cow of 125kg.
Average grass growth rates across the country are down to 57kg per day. This is the average and it represents a big reduction on last week’s growth of 72kg/day. Within this average there are some farmers recording growth rates in the 20s and they are now in real trouble for grass. Other farmers continue to grow in excess of demand so are still in a good position.
With no rain and only high temperatures in the forecast, there is cause to be concerned. It’s time to park up the mowers and toppers. A bit like in spring, it’s important not to let average farm cover run down too low. The lowest I would like to see it is at 500kg/ha. For a farm stocked at three cows/ha this is a cover of 166kg per cow and at four cows/ha this is a cover per cow of 125kg.
But not going lower than this is important, as doing so will reduce subsequent growth and delay recovery when the rain does come. Reducing the demand will be a key plank of action on most farms. This can be done by increasing the area available to cows. Is there ground closed for second-cut silage that could be grazed? It makes more sense to graze this than feed out conserved silage.
The other way to reduce demand is to feed extra supplement. If growth is less than demand, and you are at a low average farm cover (approaching 500kg/ha) then the difference between growth and demand, divided by stocking rate, is how much supplement you need to feed.
Demand
For example, if the farm is stocked at 3.5 cows/ha, demand is 60kg, but let’s say growth is 45kg/day. In this case, growth is 15kg less than demand. Dividing 15kg by the stocking rate means 4.3kg of supplement per cow should be fed to hold average farm cover where it is.
However, this presumes that growth is going to remain the same. If it rises or falls average farm cover will track it.
Growth rate has fallen due to a lack of moisture. Use supplement to slow down the round length.Work out what your demand and growth rate is before deciding how much to feed. 
Teagasc Curtins Farm, Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.59
Growth rate (kg/day) 62
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 148
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.9
Fat % 4.68
Protein % 3.64
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.8
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.2
Moisture deficits are beginning to bite, with growth crashing back to mid-60s. Pre-grazing yield is at 1,200 to 1,500kg this week and though plants are clearly moisture-stressed, the welcome introduction of aftergrass and newly established reseed will help to maintain sward quality for the moment. Clean-out remains good at 4cm post-grazing height. We are unlikely to get enough rain this week but will hold off on supplementing for another week until pre-grazing yields hit 800kg or below. At that point we will hold a 20-day round and supplement with meal.
Kilcormac, Co Offaly
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 4.51
Growth rate (kg/day) 65
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 116
Yield (l/cow/day) 23.29
Fat % 3.90
Protein % 3.47
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.75
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
We’re gone very tight for grass. We decided to let average farm cover drop to 500kg/ha before putting in feed and we’re there now so we’ve been feeding 5kg of meal since the weekend. I don’t want to be grazing covers less than 1,000kg so if we need to feed silage later to avoid this we will, but it’s extra work and hassle. I could graze some silage ground if needs be and we have reseeds to come back so the demand will drop soon anyway but we could really do with rain. On the plus side, cows are milking well.
Teagasc Ballyhaise, Cavan
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.3
Growth rate (kg/day) 48
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 150
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.9
Fat % 4.32
Protein % 3.48
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.71
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
We’re gone tight for grass here. It’s not a drought yet but growth has slowed a lot and we’re waiting for after-grass to come back. We have one paddock that was closed for silage that we grazed on Tuesday. It had a cover of 1,800kg on it but we didn’t ask the cows to work too hard on it.
We grew 48kg and demand is 46kg with 3kg of meal in. I don’t think we’ll have to feed silage but we’ll watch it closely and if growth doesn’t improve we’ll start feeding by early next week.
Greenfield Farm, Kilkenny
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.3
Growth rate (kg/day) 38
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 426
Yield (l/cow/day) 19.45
Fat % 4.27
Protein % 3.86
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.62
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4m 6s
We’re in a sharp enough deficit at the moment. Cows are grazing covers of 900kg so we are supplementing with 4kg of meal and 6kg of silage and holding rotation length at 23 days. We have 20ha of ground closed for second-cut silage. We’re not planning to graze that as regrowth has been very poor since the silage was cut. We have 275 good-quality bales made so we’ll feed them back. We got 86% of the herd submitted in the first three weeks and the non-return rate is 70%. We’re currently getting about five repeats a day.
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Grass+: don’t neglect nitrogen
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