This is a subscriber-only article
The combination of heavy snowfall and lower temperatures over the last week has further delayed what was an already slow start to spring grass production. Speaking at last week’s Teagasc Grass10 spring grass walk on the farm of Tommy McLaughlin in Malin, Co Donegal, Philip Creighton of Teagasc told farmers attending that grass growth rates over the winter were negligible.
With growth also curtailed over the last week and soil temperatures set to remain below normal, there is now likely to be even greater pressure on grass reserves to meet demand in early lactation.
Philip said the situation is likely to vary greatly between farms and will be influenced by autumn closing dates and the percentage of the farm closed while there was still significant growth, along with the farm’s mean lambing date and demand for grass (stocking rate and lambing spread).
The first piece of advice delivered was for farmers to walk their farm and see what grass reserves are present.
“It is impossible to try to develop a plan for spring grazing if you don’t know what the starting point is. Grass measuring and budgeting using a plate meter or cut and weigh system will provide the most accurate information, but there is still lots of valuable information that can be gained from getting an estimate of what grass is available in fields.
“If you walk each paddock and get a guide of the height (cm) of grass, by whatever means, it will be a benefit in helping you to control grass and put the most appropriate plan in place.”
Philip says that as a rule of thumb in normal weather conditions, every cm in grass height will generally translate to 250kg to 300kg grass DM/ha (grass is calculated from a residual height of 3cm to 3.5cm early in the year and 4cm as the year progresses).
Therefore, multiplying the grass height by the area will give an estimate of the total herbage available in a particular paddock.
A ewe in early lactation requires 2.4kg to 2.5kg DM daily. Using this information will allow you to calculate the number of days grazing available. Philip said that a mid-season flock with a mean lambing date of mid-March should, in normal circumstances, be targeting 20 to 25 days grazing ahead.
This means that if growth were to cease entirely, there is enough grass present to meet demand for those 20 to 25 days.
Stretching supplies
If growth rates do not lift significantly over the coming week to 10 days, then it is likely that many farmers will be faced with a grass shortage and will need to take remedial action to stretch existing supplies.
Philip outlined the experience of the Athenry demo flock in 2013 as an example of measures that can be taken to stretch supplies.
About 40% to 50% of the ewe’s daily intake was made up from 1.5kg grass dry matter, with the shortfall made up by supplementing ewes with close to 1kg concentrates. When grass supplies were at their lowest, ewes were also offered good-quality silage to appetite.
As touched on in previous weeks, supplementation rates will also be influenced by body condition score (BCS), with ewes in BCS 2.75 to 3+ capable of mobilising body reserves to underpin energy intake.
Teagasc advice for twin-suckling ewes in such condition and achieving an intake of 1kg grass dry matter is supplementation with 1kg of a 20% crude protein concentrate, rising to 1.4kg where ewes are in poor body condition of BCS 2.25 to 2.5.
Where ewes are receiving a higher allocation of concentrates, the crude protein content can be reduced, as the overall protein intake will be sufficient. The advice for single-suckling ewes is 0.5kg of a 20% concentrate for ewes in good body condition, rising to 0.75kg of a 15% concentrate for ewes in poor body condition.
In all these examples, appetite will not be satisfied. Therefore, offering ewes a source of forage is recommended. This response is vital until grass growth recovers sufficiently to meet demand and is especially critical to allow ewes meet their peak milk yield (three weeks in twin-suckling ewes and five weeks in single-suckling ewes).
Grazing management
While the focus is on stretching grass supplies, Philip advises that farmers should not lose sight of normal spring management principles and getting a grazing rotation set up.
“Yes, the aim is to slow the rotation, but you also need to get it going to be in a position to control grass once supplies start to build. This includes batching lambs at a similar age for ease of management.
“It won’t be hard to graze paddocks down tight this spring, but care should also be taken not to graze paddocks too tight, as they will take much longer to recover.”
While weather is limiting opportunities to get fertiliser applied, the advice is to do so once conditions allow.
“It is quite cold and wet at the moment and growth rates are not where we would like them to be. But days are getting longer and ground should hopefully turn quickly once weather improves. You want to be in the best position to get grass growing as soon as this allows and this means spreading fertiliser as soon as possible.”
Farmers satisfied with flood relief payments
Teagasc adviser Seamus Campbell covers the Inishowen region which was hit with extreme rainfall and flash flooding last September. He says that some €647,000 has been paid to over 250 eligible applicants under the Flood Damage Relief Measure. The measure provided compensation for loss of livestock and fodder, along with costs incurred in cleaning up and repairing damaged agricultural lands and fencing.
“Ninety-nine-point-nine per cent of farmers are satisfied with the compensation and classify the rates as fair. The success of the scheme shows what can be done when stakeholders including the Department of Agriculture, Teagasc and farm organisations work together to achieve the same common goal of helping affected farmers,” he said.
SHARING OPTIONS: