At the Irish Grassland Association Dairy Summer Tour on the farms of David and Paul Hyland, Bordwell,Ballacolla and David and Yvonne Kerr, Ballyfin, Portlaise were Mark Rochford,Mountmellick,John McHugh, Ballyfin and Padraig and Pat Walshe,Durrow.
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Average grass growth this week across the country is 42kg/day, which is about 18kg/day above the 10-year average. This really is an excellent growth rate. Although some farms are now beginning to run out of steam with growth declining, the last few weeks have been excellent and just what was hoped for.
Looking at the calendar, now should be the time to start closing up paddocks for the winter, and more importantly for early spring grazing in 2019. If you have a dry farm in a dry area (badly affected by drought) then there should be scope to start closing a week or so later than normal. Closing average farm cover is more important than the date you closed the first paddock. You can always decide in mid-November if you want to close, or graze again the paddocks that are being grazed this week.
Peak cover
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Most farms have hit their peak average farm cover targets and from now on will be expecting the amount of grass on the farm to decline. How quickly it declines depends on growth versus demand.
Make decisions on supplement based on growth rates. Some farmers are still feeding a lot of meal even though they have a high average farm cover and growth is better than normal.
There’s no sense to this as clean-out is more difficult when a lot of meal is being fed and the return from feeding meal when grass is plentiful is minute. Everyone should have a grass budget done for the autumn and next spring to know where you stand relative to target and this should determine the amount of meal to be fed.
Parts of the north and west are getting wet after high rainfall and there is heavy rain forecast everywhere for the weekend. Skip into lighter covers when grazing in wet weather, use a back fence and go on/off grazing if necessary.
Average grass growth is significantly better than the 10-year average.
Start closing paddocks over the next week, depending on ground conditions and growth rate.
Use the autumn grass budget to make decisions about winter feed.
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Average grass growth this week across the country is 42kg/day, which is about 18kg/day above the 10-year average. This really is an excellent growth rate. Although some farms are now beginning to run out of steam with growth declining, the last few weeks have been excellent and just what was hoped for.
Looking at the calendar, now should be the time to start closing up paddocks for the winter, and more importantly for early spring grazing in 2019. If you have a dry farm in a dry area (badly affected by drought) then there should be scope to start closing a week or so later than normal. Closing average farm cover is more important than the date you closed the first paddock. You can always decide in mid-November if you want to close, or graze again the paddocks that are being grazed this week.
Peak cover
Most farms have hit their peak average farm cover targets and from now on will be expecting the amount of grass on the farm to decline. How quickly it declines depends on growth versus demand.
Make decisions on supplement based on growth rates. Some farmers are still feeding a lot of meal even though they have a high average farm cover and growth is better than normal.
There’s no sense to this as clean-out is more difficult when a lot of meal is being fed and the return from feeding meal when grass is plentiful is minute. Everyone should have a grass budget done for the autumn and next spring to know where you stand relative to target and this should determine the amount of meal to be fed.
Parts of the north and west are getting wet after high rainfall and there is heavy rain forecast everywhere for the weekend. Skip into lighter covers when grazing in wet weather, use a back fence and go on/off grazing if necessary.
Average grass growth is significantly better than the 10-year average.
Start closing paddocks over the next week, depending on ground conditions and growth rate.
Use the autumn grass budget to make decisions about winter feed.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
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