Grass growth rates have dropped again this week to 50kg/day on average across the country. As an average, this is not bad and is close to demand on most farms. But there are some farms that are burning up badly with growth rates less than 20kg/day. Then there are others still growing well at over 60kg/day. But the fear is that if the rain promised for early next week doesn’t materialise then everyone will be in trouble.
There is no gain from worrying about what might happen in the future. The best policy is to do as good a job as possible in the conditions that we face now.
The easiest way to manage grass in a drought is to focus on rotation length. It should be between 20 and 25 days at the moment.
Rotation length is calculated based on the area being grazed per day divided into the total area available. For example, if you are grazing 6ac/day on a 120ac grazing block then the rotation length is 20 days. If the grazing block was increased to say 150 acres by bringing in silage ground then the rotation length would increase to 25 days.
If there is not enough grass to feed the herd in the area they have been allocated then supplement will be needed. How much to feed depends on how big the gap is.
A 100-cow herd grazing 40ha on a 25-day round length would be grazing 1.6ha per day. If the cover of grass on this 1.6ha is 750kg, then there is a total of 1,200kg of grass available to the cows.
If cows eat 18kg/day, the 100 cows need 1,800kg so there is a shortfall of 600kg or 6kg per day. In this instance, feeding 3kg or 4kg of meal and 2kg or 3kg of silage dry matter would be a good diet. You could feed all meal, but it would be a very expensive diet. It could be considered if good-quality bale silage is not available.
Grass growth is averaging 50kg/day but some farms are very burned up.Set rotation length at 20 to 25 days and supplement if needs be.Decide on what supplement to feed depending on how big the deficit is.Continue to spread CAN based fertilisers.
Teagasc Curtins Farm, Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.34
Growth rate (kg/day) 30
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 134
Yield (l/cow/day) 21.34
Fat % 4.69
Protein % 3.65
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.8
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4m 4s
We have stepped the cows up to 4kg of meal and we have added back in a paddock that had been skipped for silage to boost grass supply. It has been growing 25 days and has a cover of 2,200kg at the moment with lots of seed head but we’re in no position to be fussy now. It will be strip-grazed to about 5cm and hopefully we will get to skip it for bales in a future rotation. Once this paddock is grazed we will be introducing 4kg of bale silage in the latter part of the week and holding a 20-day round. We are continuing to spread 15 units of fertiliser post-grazing.
Ballinacarrow, Co Sligo
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.1
Growth rate (kg/day) 57
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 170
Yield (l/cow/day) 24
Fat % 4.09
Protein % 3.47
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.87
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
Things aren’t going too bad here in Sligo. We got a lot of rain early last week which will keep grass growing for another while. The whole farm has been cut once already this year. We cut 56% of the farm for bales. We pre-mowed 11%, topped 25% and the rest is out for reseeding. We have 85 round bales made so far this year while we made 110 in total last year so we are well ahead. With so much of the farm cut, grass quality is good and cows are milking well. Breeding seems to have gone well. I use all AI so I put scratch cards on the cows to help pick up activity.
Teagasc Clonakilty, Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.7
Growth rate (kg/day) 80
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 240
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.76
Fat % 4.38
Protein % 3.56
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.69
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
The cover last week was 142kg per cow and we predicted a growth of 50kg so we introduced 5kg of meal to hold cover. We measured again on Monday and surprisingly had loads of grass after growing 80kg/day. Meal will now be reduced as we are expecting rain at the weekend. We’re spreading 2,250gl/acre of water slurry with a trailing shoe after grazing which is helping growth and quality is good. Milk yields are for the clover plus tetraploid grass group. We scanned on Tuesday and we have 71% of the cows and 95% of the heifers in-calf in the first four weeks.
Teagasc Ballyhaise, Cavan
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.86
Growth rate (kg/day) 69
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 181
Yield (l/cow/day) 21.2
Fat % 4.3
Protein % 3.52
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.70
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
We got some rain last week so the farm is green but cover is low. We put in some silage last weekend to slow them up but have pulled silage back out and put meal up to 5kg to hold rotation at 26 days. If we see pre-grazing covers drop below 800kg we will go in with silage.
Growth to date is 6.35t/ha, which is actually similar to this time last year. We are going out with 25 units of N this week and we’ll see how things go in the week ahead.
We have seven weeks of AI done today, so bulls went out yesterday to mop up.
Read more
Cracking hay and cracking ground
Grass growth rates have dropped again this week to 50kg/day on average across the country. As an average, this is not bad and is close to demand on most farms. But there are some farms that are burning up badly with growth rates less than 20kg/day. Then there are others still growing well at over 60kg/day. But the fear is that if the rain promised for early next week doesn’t materialise then everyone will be in trouble.
There is no gain from worrying about what might happen in the future. The best policy is to do as good a job as possible in the conditions that we face now.
The easiest way to manage grass in a drought is to focus on rotation length. It should be between 20 and 25 days at the moment.
Rotation length is calculated based on the area being grazed per day divided into the total area available. For example, if you are grazing 6ac/day on a 120ac grazing block then the rotation length is 20 days. If the grazing block was increased to say 150 acres by bringing in silage ground then the rotation length would increase to 25 days.
If there is not enough grass to feed the herd in the area they have been allocated then supplement will be needed. How much to feed depends on how big the gap is.
A 100-cow herd grazing 40ha on a 25-day round length would be grazing 1.6ha per day. If the cover of grass on this 1.6ha is 750kg, then there is a total of 1,200kg of grass available to the cows.
If cows eat 18kg/day, the 100 cows need 1,800kg so there is a shortfall of 600kg or 6kg per day. In this instance, feeding 3kg or 4kg of meal and 2kg or 3kg of silage dry matter would be a good diet. You could feed all meal, but it would be a very expensive diet. It could be considered if good-quality bale silage is not available.
Grass growth is averaging 50kg/day but some farms are very burned up.Set rotation length at 20 to 25 days and supplement if needs be.Decide on what supplement to feed depending on how big the deficit is.Continue to spread CAN based fertilisers.
Teagasc Curtins Farm, Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.34
Growth rate (kg/day) 30
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 134
Yield (l/cow/day) 21.34
Fat % 4.69
Protein % 3.65
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.8
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4m 4s
We have stepped the cows up to 4kg of meal and we have added back in a paddock that had been skipped for silage to boost grass supply. It has been growing 25 days and has a cover of 2,200kg at the moment with lots of seed head but we’re in no position to be fussy now. It will be strip-grazed to about 5cm and hopefully we will get to skip it for bales in a future rotation. Once this paddock is grazed we will be introducing 4kg of bale silage in the latter part of the week and holding a 20-day round. We are continuing to spread 15 units of fertiliser post-grazing.
Ballinacarrow, Co Sligo
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.1
Growth rate (kg/day) 57
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 170
Yield (l/cow/day) 24
Fat % 4.09
Protein % 3.47
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.87
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
Things aren’t going too bad here in Sligo. We got a lot of rain early last week which will keep grass growing for another while. The whole farm has been cut once already this year. We cut 56% of the farm for bales. We pre-mowed 11%, topped 25% and the rest is out for reseeding. We have 85 round bales made so far this year while we made 110 in total last year so we are well ahead. With so much of the farm cut, grass quality is good and cows are milking well. Breeding seems to have gone well. I use all AI so I put scratch cards on the cows to help pick up activity.
Teagasc Clonakilty, Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.7
Growth rate (kg/day) 80
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 240
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.76
Fat % 4.38
Protein % 3.56
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.69
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
The cover last week was 142kg per cow and we predicted a growth of 50kg so we introduced 5kg of meal to hold cover. We measured again on Monday and surprisingly had loads of grass after growing 80kg/day. Meal will now be reduced as we are expecting rain at the weekend. We’re spreading 2,250gl/acre of water slurry with a trailing shoe after grazing which is helping growth and quality is good. Milk yields are for the clover plus tetraploid grass group. We scanned on Tuesday and we have 71% of the cows and 95% of the heifers in-calf in the first four weeks.
Teagasc Ballyhaise, Cavan
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.86
Growth rate (kg/day) 69
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 181
Yield (l/cow/day) 21.2
Fat % 4.3
Protein % 3.52
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.70
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
We got some rain last week so the farm is green but cover is low. We put in some silage last weekend to slow them up but have pulled silage back out and put meal up to 5kg to hold rotation at 26 days. If we see pre-grazing covers drop below 800kg we will go in with silage.
Growth to date is 6.35t/ha, which is actually similar to this time last year. We are going out with 25 units of N this week and we’ll see how things go in the week ahead.
We have seven weeks of AI done today, so bulls went out yesterday to mop up.
Read more
Cracking hay and cracking ground
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