Click here for Grass+ data and comment from suckler farms

Average grass growth on the Grass+ farms for the last week was 51kg per day, which is well above the Moorepark 10-year average of 32kg per day for the same period. Average farm cover for this group of farmers is about 1,050kg/ha, which is more of less where you want it to be at this time of year.

With excellent weather this week, it is likely that the good growth rates will carry on for the next 10 days or more. Make the most of this blessing by reducing costs – where grass is plentiful there is no need for meal feeding.

Grass quality is good in most places and with sun on the cows’ back there is no reason to feed meal.

I see average milk protein in Glanbia last week was 3.83%, up 0.07% on the same week last year, which shows that grass quality is good.

Farmers on heavier land and those in the north of the country will be closing up paddocks in the next week, while those further south and on better, earlier land, can get away with delaying closing until 10 to 15 October.

My attitude is that closing date is a moveable feast. Depending on average farm cover in November, some paddocks may end up being closed before or after the planned date.

The target is to graze 60% of the farm within the first 30 days after closing to have enough regrowth for next spring.

Nitrogen

With excellent clean-out of paddocks, this could be a good opportunity to get soiled water or slurry out on paddocks after grazing. The available nitrogen in soiled water is around three units per 1,000 gallons when spread in the spring. Uptake is probably a bit less at the moment, but a response is usually observed. Slurry can be spread on paddocks as they are being closed up to the closing date of 15 October.

  • Excellent growth rates and utilisation
  • No need for meal on most farms
  • Begin closing paddocks on heavy land
  • Spread soiled water and slurry after grazing/closing

    • Steven Fitzgerald

    Curtins Farm

    Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.96

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 56

    Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 963

    Yield (l/cow/day) 16.5

    Fat % 5.29

    Protein % 4.21

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.61

    Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 3

    Growth rate and grass covers are up this week but we are still behind on where we would like to be. Our grass budget is telling us we need to be at 1,200kg/ha today, but we are only at 963kg, so we are still feeding 3kg of meal per day. We will never hit the target now but if we hold steady at this cover for the next few weeks I will be happy enough.

    The problem is we are feeding a lot of meal to hold at this cover. Pre-grazing yields are around the 2,000kg mark. Clean-out is excellent and we are spreading soiled water after grazing. The plan is to start closing paddocks on 5 October.

    Daniel Barrett

    Teagasc Solohead

    Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.7

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 48

    Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1305

    Yield (l/cow/day) 17.5

    Fat % 5.0%

    Protein % 4.11%

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.64

    Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 0

    We have loads of grass on the farm at the moment, more than I would like, but I‘m confident we will work through it and get enough land grazed within the first 30 days after closing.

    The plan is to start closing paddocks in two weeks’ time, around 15 October. Pre-grazing yields are 2,000kg and clean-out is fairly good.

    We haven’t fed meal since May and so far this year, 380kg of meal has been fed. We are on 48-hour allocations at the moment but when it gets wet we go back to 12-hour breaks. Soil temperatures are 12.9 degrees.

    Padraig Callanan

    Abbeyleix, Co Laois

    Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.31

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 61

    Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1216

    Yield (l/cow/day) 18

    Fat % 4.67

    Protein % 4.09

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.63

    Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 1

    We are bang on target for average farm cover now. We were very behind target a few weeks ago so we fed 4kg of silage per day for nearly two weeks and this had a good effect on bringing up the cover.

    The milk yield didn’t drop and protein kept rising so I was very happy that we did it. Pre-grazing yields are 2,200kg and cows are on 36-hour allocations. The heifers will be coming home to graze a paddock next week so this will reduce the cover a bit. We will start closing paddocks from 6 October. We only have a small bit of slurry left to spread. Breeding went well. We have 7% empty after 11 weeks of breeding.

    Conor Creedon

    Rathmore, Co Kerry

    Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.8

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 75

    Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1064

    Yield (l/cow/day) 13

    Fat % 5.25

    Protein % 4.29

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.28

    Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 2

    The last 10 days have been excellent here in Kerry and things are beginning to turn around after the wet weather and floods we had two weeks ago. Farm cover is close enough to where I’d like it to be. I think it will rise further this week but then drop off as growth declines.

    I am feeding 2kg of soya hulls. The volume of milk is low but the solids are really good so I’m happy. More and more of the herd are now Jersey crossbred and I’m really happy with them – they suit this heavy farm. The plan is to start closing paddocks by 6 October and then start drying off heifers on 1 November.