Average grass growth this week is 53kg per day, which is still about 20kg higher than the 10-year average. But the big issue this week is the difficult ground conditions. Rainfall over the past week has been between 20 and 55mm. Most of this fell over last weekend and forced many farmers into housing cows on a full- or part-time basis.
This rain affected everyone, even those on dry land. The big difference though is the speed at which drier land will dry out – by Monday, grazing was more or less back to normal. The bad news is what’s in the forecast, with more heavy rain forecast for early next week and showers over most of the weekend.
Some farmers will have no choice but to house cows and this is fine if the alternative is to poach but ideally you want to keep grass in the diet. The tried and tested methods of on/off grazing (grazing for three-hour periods), grazing 12-hour breaks and back-fencing all need to be employed over the coming weeks. Also, if currently grazing high covers, skip into lower covers on the drier parts of the farm when the weather is bad.
Many farmers are now feeding silage and extra meal because grass is getting scarce. This is making grazing difficult as cows tend not to clean out paddocks as well when there’s silage in the diet. I would consider housing a portion of the herd fully (heavy, low-yielding cows) and keep the best producers out which will help keep the protein up.
There is a lesson to be learned about the best time to feed supplement – farmers who fed silage when the weather and growth was good in early September have sufficient grass now and are grazing full-time with no silage in the diet.
Growth rates are excellent but utilisation is very poor after a wet week.The weather forecast is bad, so use on/off grazing, back-fencing and strip wires.House cows if necessary.If feeding silage, consider housing some of the herd full-time instead of feeding some silage to all cows.Shane Leane
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.96
Growth rate (kg/day) 44
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1056
Yield (l/cow/day) 14
Fat % 5.68
Protein % 4.23
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.39
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
The weekend wasn’t too bad as we didn’t get as much rain as other parts, so ground is holding up very well and clean-out is good. The herd is grazing covers of around 2,000kg. We are still on 24-hour grass allocations but we will revert to 12-hour breaks if the weather turns bad. We are feeding 3kg of meal just to hold up average farm cover as we are slightly below where we want to be. We will start closing paddocks on 10 October. We spread soiled water last week on some of the grazed paddocks.
Oliver Looney
Mallow, Co Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.8
Growth rate (kg/day) 48
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 912
Yield (l/cow/day) 17.6
Fat % 4.52
Protein % 4.22
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.58
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2.5
We got a good bit of rain on Saturday but not enough to hamper grazing too much. Cows are grazing covers of around 1,600kg and clean-out is fairly good. We’re still on 24-hour paddocks or even longer depending on the weather and the field. Most of the higher covers are grazed at this stage so grass quality is fairly good. We’re not feeding any silage. I’m hoping to delay that as long as possible but it depends on grass covers. I plan to start closing paddocks in early October. Cows are milking well and breeding went well with 8% empty.
Timmy Quinn
Claremorris, Co Mayo
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.2
Growth rate (kg/day) 57
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 902
Yield (l/cow/day) 15.14
Fat % 4.94
Protein % 3.89
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.38
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0
We are fortunate to have a dry enough farm so we are able to cope fairly well with the weather and definitely got away better than most. Farm cover has dropped a bit in the past week as growth has dipped. We are grazing covers of around 2,100 to 2,200kg. I’d prefer clean-out to be a bit better but it’s not too bad considering.
I’ve fed 245kg of meal per cow to date. I expect cows to do about 410kg of milk solids per cow. I plan to close up the farm with a cover of around 650kg in late November.
Donal Patton
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.8
Growth rate (kg/day) 46
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1,061
Yield (l/cow/day) 14
Fat % 4.98
Protein % 4.04
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.3
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
We got a good bit of rain over the weekend but we are managing as best we can by grazing the drier parts of the farm and the lighter covers but it’s still sticky. We are using on/off grazing when we have to. Despite the weather, growth rates are holding up fairly well at 46kg per day. Average farm cover is more or less on target and we are only feeding 2kg of meal per cow. We increased this from 1kg last week. The highest covers on the farm are at around 2,400kg but we will need some dry weather before we can graze them.
Read more
Grass+ beef: A manic Monday in the pipeline
Average grass growth this week is 53kg per day, which is still about 20kg higher than the 10-year average. But the big issue this week is the difficult ground conditions. Rainfall over the past week has been between 20 and 55mm. Most of this fell over last weekend and forced many farmers into housing cows on a full- or part-time basis.
This rain affected everyone, even those on dry land. The big difference though is the speed at which drier land will dry out – by Monday, grazing was more or less back to normal. The bad news is what’s in the forecast, with more heavy rain forecast for early next week and showers over most of the weekend.
Some farmers will have no choice but to house cows and this is fine if the alternative is to poach but ideally you want to keep grass in the diet. The tried and tested methods of on/off grazing (grazing for three-hour periods), grazing 12-hour breaks and back-fencing all need to be employed over the coming weeks. Also, if currently grazing high covers, skip into lower covers on the drier parts of the farm when the weather is bad.
Many farmers are now feeding silage and extra meal because grass is getting scarce. This is making grazing difficult as cows tend not to clean out paddocks as well when there’s silage in the diet. I would consider housing a portion of the herd fully (heavy, low-yielding cows) and keep the best producers out which will help keep the protein up.
There is a lesson to be learned about the best time to feed supplement – farmers who fed silage when the weather and growth was good in early September have sufficient grass now and are grazing full-time with no silage in the diet.
Growth rates are excellent but utilisation is very poor after a wet week.The weather forecast is bad, so use on/off grazing, back-fencing and strip wires.House cows if necessary.If feeding silage, consider housing some of the herd full-time instead of feeding some silage to all cows.Shane Leane
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.96
Growth rate (kg/day) 44
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1056
Yield (l/cow/day) 14
Fat % 5.68
Protein % 4.23
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.39
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
The weekend wasn’t too bad as we didn’t get as much rain as other parts, so ground is holding up very well and clean-out is good. The herd is grazing covers of around 2,000kg. We are still on 24-hour grass allocations but we will revert to 12-hour breaks if the weather turns bad. We are feeding 3kg of meal just to hold up average farm cover as we are slightly below where we want to be. We will start closing paddocks on 10 October. We spread soiled water last week on some of the grazed paddocks.
Oliver Looney
Mallow, Co Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.8
Growth rate (kg/day) 48
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 912
Yield (l/cow/day) 17.6
Fat % 4.52
Protein % 4.22
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.58
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2.5
We got a good bit of rain on Saturday but not enough to hamper grazing too much. Cows are grazing covers of around 1,600kg and clean-out is fairly good. We’re still on 24-hour paddocks or even longer depending on the weather and the field. Most of the higher covers are grazed at this stage so grass quality is fairly good. We’re not feeding any silage. I’m hoping to delay that as long as possible but it depends on grass covers. I plan to start closing paddocks in early October. Cows are milking well and breeding went well with 8% empty.
Timmy Quinn
Claremorris, Co Mayo
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.2
Growth rate (kg/day) 57
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 902
Yield (l/cow/day) 15.14
Fat % 4.94
Protein % 3.89
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.38
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0
We are fortunate to have a dry enough farm so we are able to cope fairly well with the weather and definitely got away better than most. Farm cover has dropped a bit in the past week as growth has dipped. We are grazing covers of around 2,100 to 2,200kg. I’d prefer clean-out to be a bit better but it’s not too bad considering.
I’ve fed 245kg of meal per cow to date. I expect cows to do about 410kg of milk solids per cow. I plan to close up the farm with a cover of around 650kg in late November.
Donal Patton
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.8
Growth rate (kg/day) 46
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1,061
Yield (l/cow/day) 14
Fat % 4.98
Protein % 4.04
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.3
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2
We got a good bit of rain over the weekend but we are managing as best we can by grazing the drier parts of the farm and the lighter covers but it’s still sticky. We are using on/off grazing when we have to. Despite the weather, growth rates are holding up fairly well at 46kg per day. Average farm cover is more or less on target and we are only feeding 2kg of meal per cow. We increased this from 1kg last week. The highest covers on the farm are at around 2,400kg but we will need some dry weather before we can graze them.
Read more
Grass+ beef: A manic Monday in the pipeline
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