The year 2014 will go down as an excellent year for growing grass. February was a wet month but March and April turned out dry and mild, meaning livestock could be turned out early to graze.

Donal Patton, farm manager in Ballyhaise research farm, said that to-date the Cavan farm has grown 15.2t DM, 24% higher than the same period last year when it grew 12.3t.

Donal said it was a “perfect year” and they had no period of slow growth. He feels the farm is well on target to hit 16t DM this year. In terms of yearly grass growth, Donal said: “We can compete with the drier more southerly farms on the dry years but we will drop well back in the wet ones.”

Average pasture growth at Ballyhaise was 13.2t DM/ha in total between 2008 and 2011, so this shows they are already far ahead and the year isn’t over.

Steven Fitzgerald, Farm Manager at Curtins research farm, has a similar story. He said it was a great year for grass growth in Fermoy, with 15.9t DM grown to date, 14% ahead of the same period last year (13.9t).

The weekly Irish Farmers Journal Grasswatch figures show strong growth rates on average at 15.5kg DM/ha in mid-March. They climbed as high as 80kg DM/ha in mid-May and settled in the high 60s for the month of July.

Some farmers on dry land reported reduced growth rates due to lack of rainfall in July and early September. Rainfall was very localised during these dry spells, which meant some farmers just got rain at the right time to maintain high grass growth while others were not so fortunate. Some heavily stocked dairy farms had to supplement cows with silage and concentrates.

Heavy rainfall in the east of the country during August helped a lot of very dry farms replenish soil moisture and drive on growth in September and October.

Generally for most farmers 2014 was a very consistent year for grass growth, in contrast with 2013, a year of peaks and troughs.

In 2013 most Met Eireann weather stations reported their coldest spring in 15-34 years.