All but the driest of farms have received adequate rain at this point, and if they haven’t there is between 22mm and 56mm to fall in the next week. At this point, many farmers are looking for a more settled period to get second-cut silage done and in, possibly looking to a third cut for some after a light first cut. Unfortunately, bar a smash-and-grab effort, there will be little mower activity this week.

It’s worth noting that grass dry matter has fallen to around the 15% mark or below. This is likely to not only the wet weather, but also the correction work that was done on stemmy paddocks through baling and topping.

While the quality of grass that comes back afterwards is excellent, it’s low in dry matter and cows can often mow through these covers very quickly.

A 1,500kg DM/ha cover of aftergrass is more akin to a 1,300kg DM/ha un-mown sward. It’s just something to be conscious of when allocating grass and assessing your wedge.

If you have a lot of these types of paddocks coming back, keep cover slightly above normal to compensate for the lower DM.

It’s also a good time to log on to PastureBase and assess the growth to date for the year. Many will find that growth is down on this time last year due to weather conditions experienced.

While it’s easier to identify poor-performing paddocks on a full year’s growth, the figure to date will show any seriously under-performing paddocks.

Match these up to soil sample results and correct any underlying issues.

If fertility or pH isn’t the issue, then there is still time to reseed this year.

Swardwatch

•In the next week, 22-56mm of rain is due to fall. Any silage harvesting efforts will be a smash-and-grab.

•Rainfall and quality correction have led to low dry matters in grass.

• Keep additional grass in the wedge if you have a lot of corrected paddocks coming back.

• Assess the growth of paddocks to date on PastureBase, and take action where needed.

Sean Cummins

Kilmacthomas,

Co Waterford

During the drought quality had gotten out of control, but we managed to keep plenty of grass in front of cows. We didn’t mow any paddocks out in May, as we couldn’t see any rain in the forecast for the weeks ahead, so we carried a heavy cover into the drought, which also shored up the growth rates.

We began correcting quality when the rain hit and now have excellent quality after grass, ahead of cows. Breeding is coming near the end.

With collars fitted this year, we’ve done nine weeks of AI and will finish with three weeks of a sweep-up with the bulls.

Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.81

Growth Rate (kg/day) 57

Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 218

Yield (l/cow) 22.3

Fat % 4.46

Protein% 3.57

Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.84

Concentrates 2

Kevin Moran

Caherlistrane,

Co Galway

First-cut silage was lifted on 1 June, so if we got the opportunity next week, we would get the 31ha of second-cut complete. A further 3ha has been sprayed off, with some drainage work being finished up on this. Once that’s complete, we’ll get it disced and seeded.

Non-clover paddocks are receiving 17 units of N on a 21-day round, while clover paddocks are on a half rate. Our contractor comes in every 10 days and spreads 2,500 gallons of lagoon slurry, tested at 3-1-5/1,000 gallons, on any of these grazed clover paddocks. We have enough of this slurry for another two rotations.

Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.61

Growth Rate (kg/day) 68

Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 186

Yield (l/cow) 22.4

Fat % 4.7

Protein% 3.7

Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.93

Concentrates 0.5

Simon Breen

Emly,

Co Tipperary

We are tidy enough on grass, as we took out a lot of paddocks for correcting when the weather broke after the drought. Our year-to-date growth is just over 7.5t DM/ha, at 100 units of N. We are spreading a half bag of 38-0-0+7.5 S on non-clover paddocks at the moment, with clover paddocks receiving no chemical or organic fertiliser this round.

Breeding has gone well. Our scan results so far show that 84% of the cows are due to calve in the first three weeks. We saw a 65% conception rate to sexed semen in cows, with a 50% conception rate for the heifers on a sync programme.

Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.8

Growth Rate (kg/day) 57

Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 195

Yield (l/cow) 20.2

Fat % 4.81

Protein% 3.85

Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.8

Concentrates 2