Grass growth was recorded at 25kg DM/ha this week on the Thrive dairy calf-to-beef demonstration farm in Tipperary and with little or no rain in sight, that looks set to be even lower next week.

The farm had a daily requirement of around 32kg DM/ha, but steps have been taken to reduce this demand.

The heifers are now inside on silage and 3kg/day concentrate and the first draft should be in the next 10 days to two weeks.

The 71 finishing bullocks remain at pasture. They have started to be fed meal at grass at a rate of 3kg/head/day and to lower demand, a bale of silage per day is also being offered.

The diet feeder is being used to feed a total mixed ration (TMR) under the wire of the adjacent paddock.

The best grass on the farm is still being targeted to the calves in order to keep them on target for housing in November.

One batch of 50 calves was moved to a cover of 1,600kg DM/ha of leafy, highly digestible grass on Thursday.

There are a couple of higher covers still on the farm which will be offered to the bullocks in blocks over the next 10 days to two weeks.

At that point, the feeding arrangements will have to be reassessed.