Grazing conditions were much trickier this week as wet and misty weather crept in across the country from mid-week. This damp and misty weather has been an issue in the southern part of the country since last week.

While the quantities of rain falling might not be high, there is no drying, which at this time of year is nearly worse than rain.

The forecast for the coming week is for a continuation of the current weather patterns. The one advantage is that it is extremely mild and this is helping grass growth. But the grazing challenge remains.

On-off grazing is the order of the day for most farms that want to graze – you must take the chances when they come. At the same time you can’t afford to do damage so if land is too wet then you should house the herd or stand them off.

On most farms, the decision as to whether or not to graze that day is made immediately after milking – the cows either go to the paddock or back to the shed.

If they go back to the shed then that’s it. When grazing is borderline, you should hold cows back in the yard for an hour or two after milking and then make the decision. The weather could have improved by 10 or 11am and if cows do go out they will do a better job of grazing because they have more of an appetite. And if it is still too wet nothing will have been lost by letting them back into the shed.

February is nearly over. Most farmers will have missed out on the objective of getting 30% of the farm grazed, despite the weather and ground conditions being better than average in most parts. The lesson is you really need to go hard at grazing to achieve the 30% target.

  • Ground conditions are tricky but grass growth is good.
  • Use on-off grazing to allocate grass.
  • Hold cows back in the yard for a few hours after milking and then make the decision about grazing.
  • Shane Leane

    Teagasc Curtins Farm

    Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.9

    Growth rate (kg/day) 5

    Average farm cover (kg/ha) 951

    Yield (l/cow/day) 21.8

    Fat % 5.52

    Protein % 3.8

    Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.09

    Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

    Ground conditions have been holding up very well here and clean out has been excellent all week. Rain on Tuesday night did make things a bit sticky though, so we’ll have to keep a close eye on it. We are out day and night. I allocate 60% of the day’s allocation at night because the interval is longer. We are back fencing after each grazing. At this stage 20% of the farm is grazed and we have 64% of the herd calved. We haven’t spread slurry on any of the grazed ground yet, but we might spread some next week.

    Oisin Gill

    Hollymount, Co Mayo

    Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.73

    Growth rate (kg/day) 8

    Average farm cover (kg/ha) 636

    Yield (l/cow/day) -

    Fat % 4.97

    Protein % 3.65

    Milk solids (kg/cow) -

    Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

    Cows went out by day on 1 February and have been out day and night since 9 February. The weather here has been reasonably good so far, with very little damage done and cows out all night. We are fortunate to have a dry farm which makes things easier. According to the spring rotation planner I should have 5.6ha grazed and today I have 5ha so I’m close to the target. I spread half a bag of urea at the end of January and will go with a full bag per acre in a fortnight. Average farm cover is on the low side so I need all the grass I have.

    Donal Patton

    Teagasc Ballyhaise

    Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.9

    Growth rate (kg/day) 11

    Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1,072

    Yield (l/cow/day) -

    Fat % -

    Protein % -

    Milk solids (kg/cow) -

    Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

    We got a lot of rain on Tuesday which has made grazing difficult. We only got out for one and a half hours on Tuesday night and clean out has really suffered. If cows don’t get enough grass we give them silage in the shed. At this stage about 4% of the farm is grazed and 50% of the cows are calved. We spread slurry with an umbilical and trailing shoe last week on some high enough covers of 1,100 and 1,200kg/ha and it seems to have worked OK. We have no milk results back yet.

    Gene McGrath

    Salesian Ag College

    Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.4

    Growth rate (kg/day) 7

    Average farm cover (kg/ha) 825

    Yield (l/cow/day) -

    Fat % 5.0

    Protein % 3.93

    Milk solids (kg/cow) -

    Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

    Cows were out fulltime up to Tuesday but the constant heavy rain on Tuesday and Wednesday has forced us back inside. We will go on/off grazing again as soon as we can. We have almost 70% of the cows calved and have just over 14% of the farm grazed. All the old Hostein Friesian cows are now sold and we have a 100% spring calving mostly Jersey crossbred herd now with an average EBI of €136. Calving is going well and we are milking once a day for February, just to reduce the workload as we have a high proportion of heifers.

    Read more

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