Reseeding: This week’s Focus on pages 41- 53 is on reseeding. There has been a big increase in reseeding rates this year and to be honest, it was needed.

It has definitely dropped off the list of priorities over the last few years. Some of this is understandable given weather and fodder pressures of recent years but there is a big, long-term cost to not doing enough reseeding.

As a result, many farms are playing catch-up now as they have a lot less than 50% of the farm reseeded since the start of 2021.

I know grass remains tight on many farms in the south and east, so taking out land for reseeding can be justified as not an option, but on other farms where growth rates remain good, it’s a real opportunity.

I’m not as much of a fan of autumn reseeding compared to spring reseeding, but on heavier land, autumn reseeding is definitely easier to manage in terms of getting the seeds in. The problem can be management after that, especially if conditions turn wet. That makes it much harder to get it sprayed and grazed at the right times. Therefore, if thinking of reseeding, don’t delay it too long and get the seeds in when conditions are good.

While the clover variety index is not yet established, if you talk to any respected professional in the space, they will identify the best clover varieties based on what information is already available. There is as much variation between clover varieties as grass varieties. Some farmers that are struggling with large leafed varieties clouding out grass in paddocks know all about it. Medium leaf size modern varieties are the goal.

Breeding: I was on a farm this week where the farmer was doing most things to a very high level. He was measuring grass and the pre-grazing yield and quality going into the cows was good.

He had good infrastructure, housing and facilities, soil type was good, he was in a good discussion group and was benchmarking costs, performance etc.

Yet, profitability was low relative to other group members. The milk price received was at the co-op average, rather than 10% or 15% ahead of the co-op average. As I see it, the reason for this is that the herd of cows is relatively poor.

While EBI was not particularly low, this farm was chasing milk volume as a way of driving milk solids and so the predicted difference for fat and protein percent and kilos of fat and protein was low. It really highlighted the need to broaden the bull selection beyond just pedigrees and volume. Of course, fertility should still be the number one item to look at when picking bulls. Genetics has such a big impact on farm performance.

We saw it first hand at the Irish Grassland Association walk last week. It wasn’t the central focus of discussion on either farm, but the cows on each farm were visible for all to see. The genetic information was displayed beside the current performance. When the right genetics are matched with the best quality grass, you get 4c-5 c/litre price over co-op average.