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I will bring forward turnout date by two weeks.
Early turnout is key to achieving or exceeding the 200kg of gain at grass. The variation in land types across the country makes it difficult to give prescriptive advice on when to turn out stock. However, on the vast majority of farms it is possible to bring forward turnout date by two to three weeks simply through better management both in the spring and the previous autumn.
In terms of animal performance, getting cattle out to grass 10 days earlier in the spring is equivalent to holding them out 20 days longer in the autumn. Unfortunately, all too often farmers opt to go for the additional 20 days in the autumn over the 10 days in the spring. This has the knock-on effect of reducing spring grass availability the following year. In order to have early grass, it is essential that you start to close up ground by mid-October and have the majority of the land closed off by early November.
I will spread early nitrogen
Application of early nitrogen is critical to give growth a kick start early in the season. However, there is no point in going out with fertiliser in early February onto bare fields.
It only applies where ground was closed up early the previous autumn and a bank of grass has been allowed to build up over the winter. Around 20-25 units of N per acre should be applied (0.5 bag of Urea per acre) in the initial dressing.
I will graze the silage ground
Including the silage ground in the first grazing rotation is key to getting stock out to grass early as it increases grass availability in early March. Closing ground up in November and not being able to graze it again with stock again until mid June leaves you with very expensive silage. Research has shown that provided ground is closed up again in early April there will be no negative impact on yield. In fact grazing silage ground in the spring has actually been shown to increase quality.
I will control grass quality throughout April, May and June
In a normal growing year, 60% of grass growth occurs during the April-June period and therefore these are probably the three key months of the grazing season in relation to animal performance. Your target for this period is 1.3-1.5kg of gain per day.
The problem on many farms is that they do not let cattle out to grass in time, resulting in supply getting to far ahead of demand. This results in grass quality declining, reducing animal performance not only in the April-June period but also for the remainder of the grazing season.
The key to maintaining grass quality during this period is keeping the grazing rotation to 14-20 days. This means that when a field is grazed off you should be targeting to be going back onto it within 14-20 days to prevent grass from getting too far ahead. You need to keep you pre-grazing sward height to less than 12cm and grazed swards out to less than 5cm during March-July period.
I will adopt a paddock grazing system
While a one-day paddock system is simply unpractical on beef farms you should try and ensure that you have your grazing ground set up that stocked are moved at least every week onto fresh pasture. This ensures that pasture quality is maintained and that you are not slowing down regrowth.
I will use my topper properly
Let's be clear: the purpose of a topper is not simply to make a field look tidier. It is to improve pasture quality. The aim of topping is to remove the stem from the sward. For this to happen you need to be topping down to 5-6cm.
Most toppers across the country are set between 10-12cm. In relation to improving sward quality topping at a height of 10cm is simply a waste of both time and fuel.
I will monitor grass supply throughout the grazing season
Essentially what you are trying to achieve throughout the grazing season is to match grass supply to demand. Too much grass and quality declines. Not enough grass and stock go hungry. In both scenarios, animal performance is significantly reduced.
The secret to maintaining the ideal balance is to continually monitor grass supply throughout the summer so that action can be taken in advance of running into problems. For example, if you know in advance that supplies are starting to run tight, then nitrogen can be applied two to three weeks in advance to address the problem. Spreading nitrogen the day you run out of grass will do little to address the problem. You may also be able to reduce demand by closing up dry cows or selling off beef cattle. The key is taking these steps before you run into problems – not two or three days before you run out of grass. The same applies to over supply of grass. If you see that you are starting to run into an oversupply of grass, nitrogen application can either be reduced or delayed or fields can be taken out of the rotation and cut for silage. Again the key is to identify the problem in advance.
Table 1 gives the guidelines on the number of grazing days you should have ahead during various stages of the year. Obviously the number of days required will depend on growing conditions. Under normal growing conditions you should try and stick as close to these guidelines as possible. Extending the number of grazing days between each rotation will only lead to a decline in grass quality. Reducing the number of grazing days will ultimately lead to a shortage in grass supply.
I will take steps to maintain performance in the autumn
Grassland management in the autumn can often be easier than in the spring as grass quality does not deteriorate as quickly. It is more often the case that animal performance is reduced due to a lack of grass availability in September/October rather than grass quality. Therefore, come mid-August you should be starting to look at building up a bank of grass that you can graze throughout the September-October period. This can be achieved through a timely application of nitrogen in August/early September and increasing grazing area by returning silage ground back into the rotation. Reducing demand by starting to offload beef animals in August will also help in starting to build up a grass reserve for suckler or weanlings.
I will house cattle early
I can never understand some farmers. In the autumn, when cattle are unlikely to be achieving more than 0.4kg of gain per day, they will not house them, while in the spring when cattle have the potential to exceed 1kg of gain per day at grass they will not let them out of the shed. Early turnout is key to achieving high levels of performance. Key to being able to turn stock out to grass is closing up ground early in the autumn. Don’t fall into the trap of holding stock out on land into November or December. Those few cattle you leave scavenging over the entire farm are probably the most costly animals to feed as they delay turning out the entire herd by two to three weeks the following spring. Land should be closed off from mid-October through until early November. Advance planning and organisation is key.
I will dose cattle for worms
The rule on worm dosing is simple. If you do not dose you wont achieve high levels of performance. You should agree a dosing regime with your vet at the start of the grazing season. Dosing intervals will vary depending on the product you use.
I will not over feed store cattle during the winter
Overfeeding store cattle over the winter will significantly reduce performance at grass. Ideally you want cattle going to grass “fit and framey” but not fat. Overfeeding meals during the winter to store cattle will only drive up costs. When on ad-lib silage, weanlings and store bullocks should only be fed 2-3kg of meals per day. Meal feeding should cease six to eight weeks prior to going back to grass.
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