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It's been a tough few days on grass, with some paddocks starting to burn up, according to Shaun. How quickly these will recover will be followed closely.
Average Farm Cover is at 536kg/DM/Ha, which is pretty much on target for this time of year. Growth over the past seven days has held up well at 57kg/DM/Ha – ahead of demand at 48kg/DM/Ha.
The farm currently has 11 days grass ahead of stock. The farm is currently stocked at 2,123kg liveweight /Ha.
To buy some extra days, Shaun will move one group of stock into paddocks where second cut silage has already been cut. This will give the farm an extra five days ahead of stock.
Shaun has also taken the decision not to top any paddocks until rain returns. Fertiliser spreading has also been halted for fear of losses in the hot weather.
Heavier covers are also being grazed. These would normally be taken out for bales, but regrowth would be too slow in current conditions so they are being grazed. These paddocks will be topped once normal growing conditions return.
All stock will be weighed this week, while16 bulls have been selected for slaughter . It is expected a further draft of bulls will take place at the end of next week.
Stock bulls are still out with two groups of cows, with low levels of breeding activity being recorded.
The first cows served will be scanned next week to see what conception rate to AI is.
Eighteen acres of second cut silage was mowed on Tuesday and will be picked up on Wednesday. Cows and calves will graze the headlands for a few days, which will add some more days into the rotation.
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