Average grass growth was 72kg/day for the past week but there is a huge range of growth rates within this.

The rain that fell on Monday seems to have missed the southern half of the country. Growth rates are down to the mid 20s on Greenfield Farm in Kilkenny but, to be fair, most of the country is still growing well.

However, this farm and others are usually barometers for what is on the way, and if rain doesn’t come soon we can expect growth to tail off on many more southern farms over the next week or so.

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The long-range forecast is suggesting that there is rain coming for next week, but long-range forecasts are unreliable. I suppose the best policy for now is to be a bit more conservative in how you manage grass and expect growth to drop off.

First of all stop topping/pre-mowing, as this reduces growth. If your farm is already dry then you must extend rotation length.

Do this by making sure cows clean out all paddocks fully before being moved on.

Cut all silage immediately, if not done so already.

Get calves and heifers off the milking block as soon as possible or buy some time by using these animals to clean off headlands after silage is cut.

Some farmers are already feeding extra meal and silage as growth is below demand.

I would prefer to let average farm cover drop further before feeding supplement.

Go on a 30-day round length – there is enough grass on most farms to maintain this without having to feed silage.

So what if average farm cover drops?

We will surely get sufficient rain within the next 30 days to maintain demand, and if it doesn’t happen then go in with feed.

On the other hand, those that got enough rain can expect buoyant growth rates for another while, so they can be liberal with taking out surplus grass.

Key points

  • Average growth rates still high but vary between farms.

    • If rain doesn't come it's likely that growth will drop on most farms.

      • If dry, go on a 30-day rotation length, and only supplement as a last resort.

        • If your farm got rain then manage surplus grass as normal.

          • Steven Fitzgerald

            Co Cork

            Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 4.13

            Growth Rate (kg/day) 48

            Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 480

            Yield (l/cow/day) 22

            Fat % 4.4

            Protein % 3.56

            Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.8

            Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 3m4s

            Bit of a change here this week, with growth having crashed due to moisture deficit. As there is no rain imminent, we have decided to go in with both meal (3kg/cow) and bale silage (4kg) to reduce demand and maintain a 17-day rotation length.

            We will feed the silage over three hours after morning milking. This is the last of the bale silage that was left over from last year.

            The silage was cut last week and so we are now waiting for rain to kick on growth again.

            Cows are still milking well at 1.8kg/day, and we are continuing to spread fertiliser after grazing at 27 units sulfaCAN/acre.

            Shane Crean

            Co Cork

            Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 4.08

            Growth Rate (kg/day) 49

            Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 628

            Yield (l/cow/day) 24

            Fat % 4.2

            Protein % 3.31

            Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.87

            Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 1.2

            We haven’t had rain here in weeks. Everyone else seems to have got rain two weeks ago, but it avoided our farm. I walked the farm on Monday and parts of fields close to rocks or under trees are burning up, so I took back in a few paddocks that I had intended for silage. One of these is around 2,000kg but the rest are a bit lower, so quality isn’t that bad but I won’t force the cows too hard on it.

            I haven’t put in extra feed just yet. My experience is that grass will disappear in a mini drought if it isn’t grazed, so I’m going to keep grazing and will feed more meal and maybe silage later if I have to.

            Sean Cummins

            Co Kilkenny

            Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.34

            Growth Rate (kg/day) 40

            Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 389

            Yield (l/cow/day) 23.4

            Fat % 3.9

            Protein % 3.5

            Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.78

            Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 3m 3s

            I’m under serious pressure for grass. The farm cover is very low and there’s a big hole coming in the wedge. We cut silage two weeks ago and there’s only about 150kg back on this by now. Hopefully we’ll get rain on Friday, but there’s no guarantee of this.

            I increased meal feeding to 3kg/cow and also opened up a few bales of silage yesterday, as I want to hold rotation length at 21 days. The last thing I want to be doing is to be going into very low covers so I think it’s better to feed now to keep average farm cover up. The stocking rate is high at 3.34 cows/ha so I need a growth of 56kg to meet demand with no supplement in.

            Donal Patton

            Co Cavan

            Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.61

            Growth Rate (kg/day) 67

            Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 518

            Yield (l/cow/day) 21.6

            Fat % 4.47

            Protein % 3.56

            Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.79

            Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 1

            Before I did a walk yesterday I thought grass was tighter than it is, but the farm is actually growing fairly well, despite not getting too much rain over the weekend. I was bullish in taking out paddocks last week, so I thought I may have overdone it, but I should be OK now. I did graze one paddock that was intended for grazing, it has a cover of 1,600kg. There are other paddocks that I’d like to skip over because they don’t look nice, but I will end up grazing them now.

            Fertiliser is yet to be spread on the paddocks cut for silage. These will get 30 units of sulfaCAN/acre this week along with any paddocks recently grazed.