Most of the farmers in the programme are now focused on managing the last rotation. Closing of paddocks has started on some of the farms, while drier farms will start to close paddocks in the coming weeks.
Where there has been strong grass growth in the past few weeks, farmers will continue to monitor covers in late October and November.
If the first paddocks closed have a cover of over 1,100kg DM/ha in November, some may opt to re-graze these, but this will be decided on a case by case basis.
The dry conditions over the past few weeks have led to very good grass utilization on most farms. Even where grass covers of over 2,300kg DM/ha are being grazed, farmers have managed to get it grazed out.
Farmers are currently trying to get cattle to graze a mixture of heavy and dry paddocks, taking advantage of dry conditions to graze wet areas, but ensuring that dry areas are grazed also to allow for covers to build for early spring grazing.
New reseeds can be grazed later into the autumn. Closing these first can lead to very heavy covers over the winter. Even if these swards are grazed later in the last rotation, because they are new perennial ryegrasses, they will grow well over the winter months and they should still have good covers for early spring grazing.
Weaning is taking place on many of the farms at the moment, and on several it is fully complete.
Farmers are paying close attention to calves after weaning to ensure there are no signs of chills or pneumonia. Calving is progressing well in most of the autumn-calving herds, with several now nearing the end of the season.
Silage samples are currently being taken across the farms to provide an estimation of winter feed quality and to allow farmers to plan supplementation into the winter.
Dry conditions are allowing farmers to clean out pastures, even where pre grazing covers are heavy.Farmers on wet land have started to close off paddocks as the last rotation progresses.Focus on grass supply and budgeting will continue until all cattle are housed.Weaning is progressing on most farms, in some cases delayed weaning is taking place where grass supply is strong.Silage samples are being taken to formulate winter supplementation rates.Marty Lenehan
Co Sligo
Farming system Suckler to weanling
Land type Dry/heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 45
Average farm cover(kg DM/ha) 950
Autumn has been going well so far. I have seven cows left to calve at the moment. I purchased a new Charolais stock bull. He was let out with the autumn cows earlier this week. I am being very selective with cows I choose to run with him to minimise calving difficulty next year. Scanning results from the spring herd are very good as all the cows proved in calf. I have most of the spring calves weaned at this stage.
The spring-born bulls and autumn-born cows and calves are grazing paddocks at home at the moment. Grass growth has been good for the past few weeks at home. I have good covers for grazing built up to extend grazing well into the autumn. I will start closing paddocks closest to the shed in the coming fortnight for calves to graze over the winter.
Heinz Eggert
Co Kildare
Farming system Suckler to beef
Land type Heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 30
Average farm cover (kg DM/ha) 1,340
My average farm cover is quite high at 1,340kg DM/ha and with my daily demand at 29kg DM/ha/day I have a lot of grass to get through. I started closing paddocks for spring grass this week and to date I have 10% of the farm closed. Growth measured 30kg DM/ha/day last week so I will keep an eye on the earliest closed paddocks in late October to make sure there are not very heavy covers of grass on them to carry over the winter.
My heaviest covers have about 2,300kg DM/ha on them so I am strip grazing them with a back fence and it is working well with the cows. As I am not tight for grass I will delay weaning the calves until the end of the month. They are creep grazing ahead of the cows but are very slow to eat meal. I weighed, dosed them for worms, and vaccinated them against PI3, RSV and pasturella pneumonia with an intranasal vaccine this week.
James Kenneally
Co Cork
Farming system Suckler to beef
Land type Dry
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 35
Average farm cover (kg DM/ha) 1,200
Cull cows are in for finishing. They are getting 5kg of rolled barley plus good-quality baled silage.
Weaning has taken place for the main herd. I am feeding baled straw to cows on bare paddocks to dry up. Once they are dry they will be used to clean out paddocks after calves.
The calves are getting 1kg of meal at grass. It is a 16% protein ration to help grow their frame. Grass utilisation has been very good in the past few weeks despite grazing heavy covers and I am happy with the post-grazing heights being achieved.
I am aiming to close up paddocks from this weekend onwards. I will aim to close up 60% of ground by 10 November. A group of finishing steers and heifers will be housed next week and will be placed on a TMR mix of silage and straw along with a build-up of sugar beet and barley.
Ger Dineen
Co Cork
Farming system Suckler to beef
Land type Dry/heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 45
Average farm cover (kg DM/ha) 1,320
I am currently weaning my calves. They are creep-grazing good-quality grass ahead of cows. Cows will be housed and fed straw for a few days to dry them up and will then be used to mop up after the calves in a leader/follower system for the rest of the grazing season. Scanning went well this year with 61 out of 65 scanned in-calf between cows and heifers. I will use the high in-calf rate as an opportunity to cull older cows as I haven’t been able to do this while building numbers over the past few years. Culls and heifers not in-calf will be fed ration at grass before being housed for finishing in the next few weeks. Grass supply is excellent and once the weather holds I hope to be grazing until late November. I am following my autumn rotation planner to help me ensure I have grass for grazing in the next month, but more importantly that I have a good supply for an early turnout next spring.
Most of the farmers in the programme are now focused on managing the last rotation. Closing of paddocks has started on some of the farms, while drier farms will start to close paddocks in the coming weeks.
Where there has been strong grass growth in the past few weeks, farmers will continue to monitor covers in late October and November.
If the first paddocks closed have a cover of over 1,100kg DM/ha in November, some may opt to re-graze these, but this will be decided on a case by case basis.
The dry conditions over the past few weeks have led to very good grass utilization on most farms. Even where grass covers of over 2,300kg DM/ha are being grazed, farmers have managed to get it grazed out.
Farmers are currently trying to get cattle to graze a mixture of heavy and dry paddocks, taking advantage of dry conditions to graze wet areas, but ensuring that dry areas are grazed also to allow for covers to build for early spring grazing.
New reseeds can be grazed later into the autumn. Closing these first can lead to very heavy covers over the winter. Even if these swards are grazed later in the last rotation, because they are new perennial ryegrasses, they will grow well over the winter months and they should still have good covers for early spring grazing.
Weaning is taking place on many of the farms at the moment, and on several it is fully complete.
Farmers are paying close attention to calves after weaning to ensure there are no signs of chills or pneumonia. Calving is progressing well in most of the autumn-calving herds, with several now nearing the end of the season.
Silage samples are currently being taken across the farms to provide an estimation of winter feed quality and to allow farmers to plan supplementation into the winter.
Dry conditions are allowing farmers to clean out pastures, even where pre grazing covers are heavy.Farmers on wet land have started to close off paddocks as the last rotation progresses.Focus on grass supply and budgeting will continue until all cattle are housed.Weaning is progressing on most farms, in some cases delayed weaning is taking place where grass supply is strong.Silage samples are being taken to formulate winter supplementation rates.Marty Lenehan
Co Sligo
Farming system Suckler to weanling
Land type Dry/heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 45
Average farm cover(kg DM/ha) 950
Autumn has been going well so far. I have seven cows left to calve at the moment. I purchased a new Charolais stock bull. He was let out with the autumn cows earlier this week. I am being very selective with cows I choose to run with him to minimise calving difficulty next year. Scanning results from the spring herd are very good as all the cows proved in calf. I have most of the spring calves weaned at this stage.
The spring-born bulls and autumn-born cows and calves are grazing paddocks at home at the moment. Grass growth has been good for the past few weeks at home. I have good covers for grazing built up to extend grazing well into the autumn. I will start closing paddocks closest to the shed in the coming fortnight for calves to graze over the winter.
Heinz Eggert
Co Kildare
Farming system Suckler to beef
Land type Heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 30
Average farm cover (kg DM/ha) 1,340
My average farm cover is quite high at 1,340kg DM/ha and with my daily demand at 29kg DM/ha/day I have a lot of grass to get through. I started closing paddocks for spring grass this week and to date I have 10% of the farm closed. Growth measured 30kg DM/ha/day last week so I will keep an eye on the earliest closed paddocks in late October to make sure there are not very heavy covers of grass on them to carry over the winter.
My heaviest covers have about 2,300kg DM/ha on them so I am strip grazing them with a back fence and it is working well with the cows. As I am not tight for grass I will delay weaning the calves until the end of the month. They are creep grazing ahead of the cows but are very slow to eat meal. I weighed, dosed them for worms, and vaccinated them against PI3, RSV and pasturella pneumonia with an intranasal vaccine this week.
James Kenneally
Co Cork
Farming system Suckler to beef
Land type Dry
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 35
Average farm cover (kg DM/ha) 1,200
Cull cows are in for finishing. They are getting 5kg of rolled barley plus good-quality baled silage.
Weaning has taken place for the main herd. I am feeding baled straw to cows on bare paddocks to dry up. Once they are dry they will be used to clean out paddocks after calves.
The calves are getting 1kg of meal at grass. It is a 16% protein ration to help grow their frame. Grass utilisation has been very good in the past few weeks despite grazing heavy covers and I am happy with the post-grazing heights being achieved.
I am aiming to close up paddocks from this weekend onwards. I will aim to close up 60% of ground by 10 November. A group of finishing steers and heifers will be housed next week and will be placed on a TMR mix of silage and straw along with a build-up of sugar beet and barley.
Ger Dineen
Co Cork
Farming system Suckler to beef
Land type Dry/heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 45
Average farm cover (kg DM/ha) 1,320
I am currently weaning my calves. They are creep-grazing good-quality grass ahead of cows. Cows will be housed and fed straw for a few days to dry them up and will then be used to mop up after the calves in a leader/follower system for the rest of the grazing season. Scanning went well this year with 61 out of 65 scanned in-calf between cows and heifers. I will use the high in-calf rate as an opportunity to cull older cows as I haven’t been able to do this while building numbers over the past few years. Culls and heifers not in-calf will be fed ration at grass before being housed for finishing in the next few weeks. Grass supply is excellent and once the weather holds I hope to be grazing until late November. I am following my autumn rotation planner to help me ensure I have grass for grazing in the next month, but more importantly that I have a good supply for an early turnout next spring.
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