Growth rates over the last week were as predicted, with the south, east and midlands growing between 30kg and 45kg while the west and north grew much better at between 50kg and 60kg per day on average.
Most of the country got 10-30mm of rain over the last week which should be enough to get out of soil moisture deficits and drive on grass growth. It’s not an instant kick though, and dry farms in dry areas will take a while to recover.
This means heavy feeding will have to continue on most farms. The average amount of meal being fed on dairy farms is 3.5kg/day. Farmers will have one eye on trying to feed cows for today and another on building covers for the autumn.
It’s better to focus on the task at hand. Two weeks of high grass growth in late August or early September will solve the grass cover problem. On farms suffering from soil moisture deficits, the burst in growth will come sometime.
For now it’s about maintaining a round length of 25 days or so. With growth rates in the mid 40s and all the farm available for grazing, 3-4kg of meal should hold the round length.
Average farm cover shouldn’t go below 500kg/ha, or 160kg/cow. Even if growth rates are higher than demand it’s good to let average farm cover build up, because we could be in for more dry weather.
We’re coming to the last few weeks for fertiliser and slurry. There’s a much better response to going with the last round in mid-August compared to mid-September.
Remember, the highest risk period for nitrogen leaching is in the autumn. Spreading 15-20 units/ac of nitrogen now on fields with little to no clover should be enough on most farms.
Where clover is present in good quantity, less nitrogen will suffice.
Dairy-bred calves are starting to thrive, and will need good quality grass over the next six weeks to capitalise on higher growth rates. Aftergrass from second cut silage should be prioritised for these stock.
Keep them on grazing intervals of two to three days before moving on to the next field. Some farmers will let older stock clean out the fields after them in a sort of leader-follower system.
Avoid grazing re-growth as this will seriously reduce grass growth rates.
Average grass growth rates are 48kg per day but farms in the south, midlands and east are struggling for grass. Widespread rain last weekend will boost grass growth, but badly affected farms will take time to recover. Farmers should continue to supplement to maintain average farm cover at or above 500kg/ha or 160/cow. Don’t be too concerned about building covers if you find yourself in a soil moisture deficit, the high growth rates will come later. Get all slurry and fertiliser applied by mid to late August as this will ensure the highest response and the least chance of leaching.Eoin Corrigan – Trim, Co Meath
We’ve been supplementing cows for the past week with 10kg of zero-grazed grass (supplementing with silage before this) destined for second cut silage and 5kg of concentrates.
We managed to hold farm cover above 550kg DM/ha for all of June and the first half of July, but growth was just so poor. We grazed a paddock at 800kg there that had previously been grazed 36 days ago.
In total we received 24mm of rain in July, with the most of that falling over the weekend. That rain has really helped the farm to green up, but it will be a couple of weeks before we’re back to normal again.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.5
Growth Rate (kg/day) 10
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 88
Yield (l/cow) 18
Fat % 4.6
Protein% 3.75
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.54
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
Kevin Muldoon & Mella Briscoe – Killimor, Co Galway
The rain we received over the weekend was much needed, and helped to lift our growth from 47kg last week to 70kg this week.
The rain was most welcome for our reseeds which we sowed four weeks ago. We did a mixture of discing and stitching in, with the ground that was stitched coming out the better from the dry spell.
We’ll hopefully get these sprayed with a post-emergence in the next day or two.
Quality was hard to manage in the dry spell, with a lot of topping, pre-mowing and baling done to try rectify it. Swards are much cleaner now so we are hoping our remedial work is done.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.55
Growth Rate (kg/day) 70
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 207
Yield (l/cow) 20
Fat % 4.41
Protein% 3.66
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.66
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
Brendan Horan – Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork
Growth on the multispecies swards increased to 45kg/ha this week as we got some rain over the weekend. Pasture quality is holding well and we are continuing to graze to 4cm to maintain this quality.
Two paddocks are earmarked for mowing, with average farm cover up over 640kg/ha. Our demand is 50kg/day and we have 13 days ahead of us. Pre-grazing yield is 1,300kg/ha on a rotation length of 24-30 days on the next paddocks.
Clover content averages 25% on these swards, with a herb content of 15% and we are spreading no fertiliser post-grazing. To date, our paddocks have grown just shy of 8t DM/ha on average.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.14
Growth Rate (kg/day) 45
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 205
Yield (l/cow) 20.3
Fat % 4.72
Protein% 3.6
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.7
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
Growth rates over the last week were as predicted, with the south, east and midlands growing between 30kg and 45kg while the west and north grew much better at between 50kg and 60kg per day on average.
Most of the country got 10-30mm of rain over the last week which should be enough to get out of soil moisture deficits and drive on grass growth. It’s not an instant kick though, and dry farms in dry areas will take a while to recover.
This means heavy feeding will have to continue on most farms. The average amount of meal being fed on dairy farms is 3.5kg/day. Farmers will have one eye on trying to feed cows for today and another on building covers for the autumn.
It’s better to focus on the task at hand. Two weeks of high grass growth in late August or early September will solve the grass cover problem. On farms suffering from soil moisture deficits, the burst in growth will come sometime.
For now it’s about maintaining a round length of 25 days or so. With growth rates in the mid 40s and all the farm available for grazing, 3-4kg of meal should hold the round length.
Average farm cover shouldn’t go below 500kg/ha, or 160kg/cow. Even if growth rates are higher than demand it’s good to let average farm cover build up, because we could be in for more dry weather.
We’re coming to the last few weeks for fertiliser and slurry. There’s a much better response to going with the last round in mid-August compared to mid-September.
Remember, the highest risk period for nitrogen leaching is in the autumn. Spreading 15-20 units/ac of nitrogen now on fields with little to no clover should be enough on most farms.
Where clover is present in good quantity, less nitrogen will suffice.
Dairy-bred calves are starting to thrive, and will need good quality grass over the next six weeks to capitalise on higher growth rates. Aftergrass from second cut silage should be prioritised for these stock.
Keep them on grazing intervals of two to three days before moving on to the next field. Some farmers will let older stock clean out the fields after them in a sort of leader-follower system.
Avoid grazing re-growth as this will seriously reduce grass growth rates.
Average grass growth rates are 48kg per day but farms in the south, midlands and east are struggling for grass. Widespread rain last weekend will boost grass growth, but badly affected farms will take time to recover. Farmers should continue to supplement to maintain average farm cover at or above 500kg/ha or 160/cow. Don’t be too concerned about building covers if you find yourself in a soil moisture deficit, the high growth rates will come later. Get all slurry and fertiliser applied by mid to late August as this will ensure the highest response and the least chance of leaching.Eoin Corrigan – Trim, Co Meath
We’ve been supplementing cows for the past week with 10kg of zero-grazed grass (supplementing with silage before this) destined for second cut silage and 5kg of concentrates.
We managed to hold farm cover above 550kg DM/ha for all of June and the first half of July, but growth was just so poor. We grazed a paddock at 800kg there that had previously been grazed 36 days ago.
In total we received 24mm of rain in July, with the most of that falling over the weekend. That rain has really helped the farm to green up, but it will be a couple of weeks before we’re back to normal again.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.5
Growth Rate (kg/day) 10
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 88
Yield (l/cow) 18
Fat % 4.6
Protein% 3.75
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.54
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
Kevin Muldoon & Mella Briscoe – Killimor, Co Galway
The rain we received over the weekend was much needed, and helped to lift our growth from 47kg last week to 70kg this week.
The rain was most welcome for our reseeds which we sowed four weeks ago. We did a mixture of discing and stitching in, with the ground that was stitched coming out the better from the dry spell.
We’ll hopefully get these sprayed with a post-emergence in the next day or two.
Quality was hard to manage in the dry spell, with a lot of topping, pre-mowing and baling done to try rectify it. Swards are much cleaner now so we are hoping our remedial work is done.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.55
Growth Rate (kg/day) 70
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 207
Yield (l/cow) 20
Fat % 4.41
Protein% 3.66
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.66
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
Brendan Horan – Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork
Growth on the multispecies swards increased to 45kg/ha this week as we got some rain over the weekend. Pasture quality is holding well and we are continuing to graze to 4cm to maintain this quality.
Two paddocks are earmarked for mowing, with average farm cover up over 640kg/ha. Our demand is 50kg/day and we have 13 days ahead of us. Pre-grazing yield is 1,300kg/ha on a rotation length of 24-30 days on the next paddocks.
Clover content averages 25% on these swards, with a herb content of 15% and we are spreading no fertiliser post-grazing. To date, our paddocks have grown just shy of 8t DM/ha on average.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.14
Growth Rate (kg/day) 45
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 205
Yield (l/cow) 20.3
Fat % 4.72
Protein% 3.6
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.7
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
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