Building grass covers is the big challenge farmers have now for the month of September. Some of our Grasswatch farmers report that growth rates are down considerably on previous weeks and this is a reflection of the cool weather last week.

Some farmers didn’t get the rainfall others got and this is having an effect. According to Met Eireann, temperatures should be increasing again into the weekend and the beginning of next month.

Silage or meal, or a combination of both, is being fed on farms where growth has taken a dive to help slow grass intake down and build up covers. It’s better to feed cows now rather than later because it can be difficult to graze down covers tight if feeding heavy later on.

Some farmers are drying off low yielders or empty cows now to help take the pressure off the grazing platform. Those stocked at between 2 and 2.8 cows/ha can build to a grass cover of 500kg per cow. That would be a farm cover of 1,000 to 1,400kg across the farm by late September.

Those stocked higher, at 2.8 cows/ha, should aim for between 400kg and 450kg per cow so that pre-grazing yields are still manageable.

Our farmer in mid-Kerry has an average farm cover of 1,039kg DM/ha and a growth rate of 59.5kg DM/ha. His demand is at 46.7kg DM/ha, so he is still growing plenty of grass. Pre-grazing covers are 1,850kg DM/ha and cover per cow is 377kg DM. He feels the cover per cow is a little too high, so he might bale one paddock to bring it down under 300kg DM per cow. He is all set for Saturday’s big game.

The growth rate in south Tipperary equalled demand at 60kg DM/ha. Our man had an average farm cover of 707kg DM/ha and cover per cow is 190kg DM. He has decided to up the meal by 2-3kg to help build up covers for the autumn and he can do this because quota isn’t an issue. He might also dry off low yielders. Cows are milking 17.45kg at 4.51% fat and 3.77% protein (1.44kg MS).

Our farmer in southwest Cork felt ground had dried up a lot until they got rain last Sunday and Monday. His growth rates had dropped to 38kg DM/ha from 54kg DM/ha the previous week. He thinks growth will improve from now on.

In southwest Wexford, our man has a growth rate of 70kg DM/ha and a high average farm cover of 1,000kg DM/ha. His stocking rate will drop from 2.3LU/ha to 1.6LU/ha next week.

He hopes to take out some paddocks to get covers back in order because his cover per cow is 400kg DM. Cows are milking 20.6kg at 4.05% fat and 3.84% protein (1.62kg MS). A recent scan showed 9% of the milking cows empty and just one heifer empty out of 44.

Mid-Clare got 25mm of rain over the week. His average farm cover is 809kg DM/ha and cover per cow is 254kg DM. His growth rate is 48kg DM/ha and his stocking rate is 2.79Lu/ha. Cows are yielding 14.5litres at 4.16% fat, 3.51% protein (1.15kg MS) and 232 SCC.

STEVEN FITZGERALD, farm manager, TEAGASC CURTIN’S RESEARCH FARM

The cold has certainly affected us here in Cork. Growth rates have levelled off at 48kg DM/ha, but we would like it higher at this time of year. The cover per cow is at 244kg DM and the average farm cover is 720kg DM/ha.

The rotation length is well on target at 29 days and will meet the target of 30 days by 1 September. We took the decision to feed concentrates again this week, allocating 3kg/cow. Because the growth rates have reduced, we don’t want to take any chances and want to avoid shortages down the line.

Cows are entering high pre-grazing covers of 2,000kg DM/ha in the next two paddocks, but the following paddocks have lighter covers, down to 1,500kg DM/ha and 1,000kg DM/ha.

We will look at the feed situation next week again and see how we are.

A bag of CAN per acre is being spread following cows. With this nitrogen and warmer temperatures towards the weekend, covers should start building. After the fertilizer deadline, we will spread some dirty water on paddocks when cows graze them off. The dry matter of grass was 14% this week. Cows are milking 16.9 litres at 4.95% fat, 4% protein and 158,000 SCC.

DONAL PATTON, FARM MANAGER, BALLYHAISE RESEARCH FARM

We got about 8mm of rain over the last seven days, which has helped growth rates stay strong. The growth is at 81kg DM/ha and demand is 49kg DM/ha. The average farm cover is 660kg DM/ha and cover per cow is 215kg.

Covers are building well and we are on target with our autumn planner. Rotation length is at 27 days and we are on target to have an average farm cover (AFC) of 700kg DM/ha by 1 September.

We will try and increase the AFC by 100kg per week, to have an AFC of 1,100kg DM/ha at the end of September. A budget of 3kg per cow was on the planner for this week, but because of strong growth rates we decided to just feed 0.5kg per cow.

Cows are entering pre-grazing covers of 1,600kg DM/ha. There are two paddocks earmarked for baled silage because they are a little rough (clumpy), and will be cut as soon as weather allows. We have some ground ploughed for reseeding, but it is still too wet to work with yet. Hopefully next week we will get into it.

With these paddocks out, stocking rate is up at 3.1LU/ha. We are following cows with 23 units of Urea, and will bulk spread the remaining fertilizer allowance next week.

Cows are milking 15.9 litres at 4.82% fat, 3.81% protein, 4.64% lactose (1.37kg MS) and 192 SCC.

John Cahalan, Terryglass, Nenagh, Co Tipperary

We are still building covers here nicely, with a growth rate of 57kg DM/ha and a demand of 50kg DM/ha. We have a high average farm cover of 952kg DM/ha and a cover per livestock unit of 322kg.

Another paddock could be taken out for baled silage, but I feel it’s too late in the year now. The stocking rate is 2.95LU/ha and this is made up of cows only on the milking platform, so it won’t reduce significantly for the remainder of the year.

The 95 cows are milking 17 litres at 4.3% fat, 3.62% protein and 78,000 SCC. We are about 12% over quota so we will have to go back to once-a-day milking in October and dry cows off earlier. It suits me fine from a family and lifestyle point of view. The weather this year has suited my farm perfectly. We have grown 8.5 tonne of grass so far. A lot of reseeding has been done and the kale we sowed for the weanlings for the winter is flying out of the ground. Out of the 95 cows and 38 heifers, two cows are not in calf. These two cows will be fattened and sold in spring. We passed our herd test recently. This will allow us to sell stores and free up more ground for heifers and yearlings. We have spread 25 units of nitrogen once a week after grazed paddocks and are on the last round now. There is a GPS on the tractor so I know exactly where I stopped spreading last.

John Roche, Baltinglass,

Co Wicklow

Grass growth has been strong at 53kg DM/ha. The average farm cover is 723kg DM/ha (301kg DM/LU). Our demand is 43kg DM/ha, so with a growth rate of 53kg DM/ha, we are building covers quickly and should be well set up for the autumn. We have four paddocks earmarked for baled silage, because we felt we were building grass too early. We don’t want to be in a situation where we are grazing covers of 2,000kg DM/ha in early September. This will be cut and baled as soon as weather allows.

If growth rates start falling, we will let the cows in to graze one or two of these paddocks. At the moment we are grazing a paddock that was reseeded in the spring. Last year, this paddock grew 6t of grass in the year. This year to date it has grown 10t of grass and that is allowing a six-week reseed turnaround time.

The 133 spring-calving cows are milking well, producing 19.15 litres at 3.89% fat and 3.46% protein (1.45kg MS). Cows are allocated 17kg grass and 1.5kg concentrates per cow. We have produced 847kg of milk solids per hectare in the year to date. We have made 300 high-quality bales of silage off the 65ha this year so far, and we have done no topping. We have pre-mowed a paddock or two but the surplus bales freshen paddocks rather than topping. So far in 2014 we have grown 10t DM/ha, so we are heading for 13t by end of the year.