Autumn reseeding: Many farmers have been enquiring around autumn reseeding, particularly on more marginal ground.

Reseeding is generally carried out from May onwards on this type of land, but the recent dry spell has worried some farmers that water availability even on this type of ground is low.

The dry soil conditions now pose an ideal opportunity to complete the tilling working on this ground, with the seed sown at a later date when there is more rainfall forecast.

Cooler weather and greater cloud cover should allow for glyphosate to be applied where there is a need to kill off the sward. Lime is nearly always recommended save for high pH soils, as the rotting of the sod through spraying off and stitching or incorporating this in to the soil will create acidic conditions.

Seed can be sown immediately after the seed bed has been prepared, but this can prove disastrous if germination occurs and a lack of rainfall occurs thereafter. It is better to be sure that sufficient rainfall is forecast before sowing.

Spring reseeds will have been challenged by the recent warm weather as well. Post emergence spray is generally not recommended when the grass plant is under this pressure. These swards can be grazed and weeds controlled in the next round when grass should be under less pressure.

Managing grass: While many farms last week were in an OK position grass wise, another week of dry and hot weather has taken its toll now on growth, with many counties now greater than 20% lower than the norm regarding normal growth levels. Paddocks are burning up, and anything grazed since the start of the dry spell has been slow to bounce back, while even grass with a cover on it is wilting away on dry farms.

Grass has also been extremely stressed out and has stemmed out in some cases. Taking out these paddocks is a major no until we see more rain on the horizon. As said before, there is little worse than baling silage one week and feeding it out the week after. Strip grazing or pre-mowing paddocks should see good utilisation levels and paddocks should be well cleaned out for the next rotation. Feeding out some small amounts of hay or silage alongside grass will help to stretch out the rotation. The further that the current grass bank is eaten in to, the slower the recovery will be.

Drafting cattle: Early maturing dairy beef heifers and traditional beef bred suckler heifers may be starting to lay down significant amounts of fat despite not having an overly large carcase. This issue may be exacerbated by a requirement to feed concentrates amid poor grass growth. Concentrate levels should be limited on these types of animals to prevent this happening, with silage or other fodder offered to fill a gap in the grass wedge. Where animals have sufficient carcase weights, drafting can occur on a weekly basis. Early maturing breeds have the ability to lay down fat rapidly, with even a two week drafting policy causing some animals to be presented over fleshed.