I think any notion of a dry finish to the 2023 grazing season is well and truly gone, with the heavy rainfall over the Ploughing week giving way to even more biblical levels as Storm Agnes rolls in.

Writing this page this year has felt more like a weather report than grass management advice, such is the effect that weather has had on the farming and grazing calendar.

Dry farms seem to be coping ok with the weather (for now) as seen by our profiled farmers.

Spur roads will pay dividends where they are in place to get the back of paddocks grazed without damaging the front.

It’s a case of get in and get out quickly, with a lot of farmers using 12-hour strip wires and back fencing. Grass dry matter is obviously well back, so a source of roughage, even a bale of straw or hay along the barrier at milking time, would help slow down rumination time.

However, some farms, especially in the northwest and on peaty ground, have had to house stock as grazing conditions are too poor.

Heavy covers and waterlogged ground are a bad combination, so housing stock as opposed to significant poaching is the best option.

The problem this poses is leaving heavy covers of grass ungrazed. It’s not saying that it’s the end of grazing for these farms, but with the heavy average farm covers out there, the farms would need to be chipping away at grazing nearly every day.

The best option is to allocate three-hour grazings, similar to in spring, after leaving cows hungry beforehand.

If cows are in on silage, you would have to question high levels of meal feeding with current milk prices. Again, there is just over a week remaining to spread any slurry left in yards, and with the way the weather is at the moment, it is likely to be a long winter, which will require all the storage available on farms.

Swardwatch

  • Dry farms are getting by with wet weather management. Use of spur roads and strip wires will be a major aid.
  • Wet farms are having to house cows and are leaving heavy covers ungrazed.
  • Using three-hour grazings after each milking after a period of hunger will get a lot of this grazed off.
  • Get slurry tanks emptied.

    • Farmers

    Niall O’Loughlin – Nurney, Co Kildare

    We’ve had a lot of rain over the last week but ground is holding up ok.

    I have a dry farm, so this year has suited me well for grass growth, because over the last five years the farm has suffered from drought in the middle of July and August.

    The farm has grown close to 13t DM/ha and hopefully we’ve a bit more to come. I’m buffering cows with 3kg DM/cow of dry bales as grass is very wet.

    Our pre-grazing yield is 2,500kg DM but I’ve had to put them into 1,800kg DM the last few days with the rain. All slurry tanks have been emptied since the summer.

    Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.4

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 68

    Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 1063

    Yield (l/cow) 19

    Fat% 4.92

    Protein% 3.84

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.76

    Concentrates 2kg

    John Dwyer – Cashel, Co Tipperary

    We got 17-18mm of rain between Sunday and Monday which has made things sticky, but thankfully we’re on a dry enough farm here so ground is holding up well. Cows are heading into covers of 1,700kg DM/ha.

    I’m probably overestimating dry matter percentage on covers as cows are cleaning out paddocks.

    I’ve used spur roadways the last few days due to the amount of rain that has fallen.

    I haven’t fed any silage yet but I’ll be keeping an eye on the AFC and I’ll feed when needed. Most of the slurry is out now, we’re following the cows with dairy washings until the closing date.

    Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 2.83

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 41

    Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 943

    Yield (l/cow) 16.5

    Fat% 5.18

    Protein% 4.18

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.6

    Concentrates 3kg

    Brian McCracken – Newtownards, Co Down

    The rain in the past week has made things difficult for grazing but the ground is still ok at the moment. We are prepared to bring cows in if we need to, but hopefully we can keep them out for some time yet.

    I offloaded about 15% of the herd this week with empty and late calving cows. This has reduced stocking rate, which will take some pressure off.

    Cows are grazing in covers of 2,100kg DM/ha at present. They’re grazing in paddocks with plenty of shelter these few days with the weather forecasted. Weather has set us back but we hope to get the contractor in for one day of slurry to empty tanks.

    Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 2.15

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 41

    Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 1,053

    Yield (l/cow) 16.2

    Fat% 5.42

    Protein% 4.23

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.61

    Concentrates 4kg