We can talk about how mild the weather is and how good grass growth has been compared to other years but really that’s all secondary, because the big issue is how much rain is falling.
There’s a deluge coming every few days, and with land at saturation point and beyond it’s very concerning. There’s a very high chance of flooding in many low lying places, particularly as there’s more rain in the forecast.
Having said that, there are still a lot of farmers with cows out, if not night and day then maybe by day only. Dry land is still holding up fairly well, although achieving a good clean out is certainly challenging.
On/off grazing is an important tool at this time of year. It allows cows to graze and consume over 90% of their grass allocation in two, three hour periods.
It works by making sure that cows are going out to the field with an appetite. It doesn’t work near as well if cows are going out to the field full of silage.
Cows will be OK without access to water if on a three hour grazing stint, but they will need water if on a 12 hour break. Graze in square sections rather than in long rectangular breaks, as cows will do more walking in a long and narrow strip.
Make the best use of the facilities that are available; multiple access points into and out of paddocks, spur roads, dry fields etc.
Problems will emerge on farms that are too wet to graze but have a lot of grass remaining. This is particularly problematic on fields with a high clover content, as clover does not like to be shaded out over the winter.
While there is no easy solution, farmers in this predicament may get a chance to graze these fields with youngstock at some point over the next few weeks.
Average grass growth rate over the last week was 26kg per day, and it’s expected to be in the high teens this week.
This means that where no animals are grazing, average farm cover will increase by 120kg/ha per week. If nothing else happens, many farms will go into the winter with far too much grass.
Atrocious weather conditions have put a halt to grazing on all but the driest farms as we finish one of the wettest Octobers in recent years. Grass growth rates continue to be higher than normal, with an average of 26kg/day recorded over the last week. Average farm cover is also high at 743kg/ha on average, and this may be problematic if farmers can’t graze out some very high covers before closing fully for the winter. Predicted growth rates are 17-19kg/day over the next week meaning average farm cover, where no animals are grazing, will increase by 120kg/ha/week. Paul Sheehan – Conna, Co Cork
Ground conditions are still good despite all the rain. We have housed cows by night now since Friday, with cows allocated 10kg of grass by day and 5kg of silage inside at night.
We dropped the stocking rate by selling any empties and first lactation cows were dried off. We used selective dry cow therapy on half of these.
We have 30% of the platform left to graze, with the hope that we will stretch this out up to 20 November.
Some of the paddocks are low lying, running alongside a river and though the ground is dry, it can flood, so we’re hopeful we’ll get the chance to graze these.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.24
Growth Rate (kg/day) 32
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 762
Yield (l/cow) 13
Fat % 5.62
Protein% 4.50
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.35
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
Richard Starrett – Lifford, Co Donegal
Cows are in at night now for the past two nights. Growth was that strong and ground conditions were that good that we have been grazing the earliest closed off paddocks by night since 20 October.
These will be our first paddocks to graze in February at turn out.
Cows were being turned out after evening milking, with the Batt latch releasing at 10pm and cows coming back in at that point.
The covers left to graze are between 1,800 to 2,000 kg DM/ha, with about 10% of the platform left to graze. Empty cows will be milked on over the winter, with an empty rate of 6.5% across 11.5 weeks of artificial insemination.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.73
Growth Rate (kg/day) 31
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 614
Yield (l/cow) 15.5
Fat % 5.36
Protein% 4.41
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.55
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
Eoin McGrath – Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork
Grazing conditions have been difficult in the past week due to prolonged rainfall. Cows are now at grass during the day and silage by night.
Despite the heavy rain, graze outs are still excellent, with residuals of 4-4.5cm. Cows are on a diet of 6kg grass, 8kg silage and 4kg concentrate. We are allocating 12 hour blocks to utilise heavy covers efficiently.
Cows are holding solids well, so they will remain on 4kg of concentrates/head/day for now. Cows are entering paddocks at roughly 1,450 kg DM/ha. Clover content is averaging 24% across the farm, with the rotation length now at 40 days.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.84
Growth Rate (kg/day) 23
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 758
Yield (l/cow) 15.2
Fat % 5.99
Protein% 4.46
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.63
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4
We can talk about how mild the weather is and how good grass growth has been compared to other years but really that’s all secondary, because the big issue is how much rain is falling.
There’s a deluge coming every few days, and with land at saturation point and beyond it’s very concerning. There’s a very high chance of flooding in many low lying places, particularly as there’s more rain in the forecast.
Having said that, there are still a lot of farmers with cows out, if not night and day then maybe by day only. Dry land is still holding up fairly well, although achieving a good clean out is certainly challenging.
On/off grazing is an important tool at this time of year. It allows cows to graze and consume over 90% of their grass allocation in two, three hour periods.
It works by making sure that cows are going out to the field with an appetite. It doesn’t work near as well if cows are going out to the field full of silage.
Cows will be OK without access to water if on a three hour grazing stint, but they will need water if on a 12 hour break. Graze in square sections rather than in long rectangular breaks, as cows will do more walking in a long and narrow strip.
Make the best use of the facilities that are available; multiple access points into and out of paddocks, spur roads, dry fields etc.
Problems will emerge on farms that are too wet to graze but have a lot of grass remaining. This is particularly problematic on fields with a high clover content, as clover does not like to be shaded out over the winter.
While there is no easy solution, farmers in this predicament may get a chance to graze these fields with youngstock at some point over the next few weeks.
Average grass growth rate over the last week was 26kg per day, and it’s expected to be in the high teens this week.
This means that where no animals are grazing, average farm cover will increase by 120kg/ha per week. If nothing else happens, many farms will go into the winter with far too much grass.
Atrocious weather conditions have put a halt to grazing on all but the driest farms as we finish one of the wettest Octobers in recent years. Grass growth rates continue to be higher than normal, with an average of 26kg/day recorded over the last week. Average farm cover is also high at 743kg/ha on average, and this may be problematic if farmers can’t graze out some very high covers before closing fully for the winter. Predicted growth rates are 17-19kg/day over the next week meaning average farm cover, where no animals are grazing, will increase by 120kg/ha/week. Paul Sheehan – Conna, Co Cork
Ground conditions are still good despite all the rain. We have housed cows by night now since Friday, with cows allocated 10kg of grass by day and 5kg of silage inside at night.
We dropped the stocking rate by selling any empties and first lactation cows were dried off. We used selective dry cow therapy on half of these.
We have 30% of the platform left to graze, with the hope that we will stretch this out up to 20 November.
Some of the paddocks are low lying, running alongside a river and though the ground is dry, it can flood, so we’re hopeful we’ll get the chance to graze these.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.24
Growth Rate (kg/day) 32
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 762
Yield (l/cow) 13
Fat % 5.62
Protein% 4.50
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.35
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
Richard Starrett – Lifford, Co Donegal
Cows are in at night now for the past two nights. Growth was that strong and ground conditions were that good that we have been grazing the earliest closed off paddocks by night since 20 October.
These will be our first paddocks to graze in February at turn out.
Cows were being turned out after evening milking, with the Batt latch releasing at 10pm and cows coming back in at that point.
The covers left to graze are between 1,800 to 2,000 kg DM/ha, with about 10% of the platform left to graze. Empty cows will be milked on over the winter, with an empty rate of 6.5% across 11.5 weeks of artificial insemination.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.73
Growth Rate (kg/day) 31
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 614
Yield (l/cow) 15.5
Fat % 5.36
Protein% 4.41
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.55
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
Eoin McGrath – Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork
Grazing conditions have been difficult in the past week due to prolonged rainfall. Cows are now at grass during the day and silage by night.
Despite the heavy rain, graze outs are still excellent, with residuals of 4-4.5cm. Cows are on a diet of 6kg grass, 8kg silage and 4kg concentrate. We are allocating 12 hour blocks to utilise heavy covers efficiently.
Cows are holding solids well, so they will remain on 4kg of concentrates/head/day for now. Cows are entering paddocks at roughly 1,450 kg DM/ha. Clover content is averaging 24% across the farm, with the rotation length now at 40 days.
Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.84
Growth Rate (kg/day) 23
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 758
Yield (l/cow) 15.2
Fat % 5.99
Protein% 4.46
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.63
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4
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