It is key to target early spring grazing for three reasons.

Number one, grazed grass is by far the cheapest feed available to farmers and every day where silage and concentrates are replaced by grass creates a significant saving.

Secondly, early spring grazing increases the quality of grass grown in the second, third and subsequent grazing rotations.

Finally, grazing more grass in the spring significantly increases the overall quantity of grass grown and utilised on the farm annually.

With that, here are some top tips to get out of the traps quickly in 2019:

Walk your farm

Before the end of the week, make it your business to walk your farm.

A simple visual assessment is vital in order to manage early grass.

The two big factors you need to be looking at are grass covers and ground condition.

Early turn-out should be on to dry ground with a good cover of grass. This helps to get animals settled quickly.

Ground conditions and grass cover will also influence your decision to go with slurry or fertiliser.

Slurry should be spread on the lighter covers, certainly no heavier than 1,000kg DM/ha (8cm), with anything heavier receiving chemical fertiliser.

Ground that receives slurry won’t be grazed for around six weeks.

Fertiliser on heavier covers will be available for grazing immediately.

Get measuring

While you are walking your farm, consider bringing some method of measuring grass with you.

A sward stick is a simple concept, but accuracy is questionable.

Ideally, a plate meter or quadrat and shears should be used.

Once measuring, the next step is to get set up with a grass management software, such as Pasturebase, where you can input measurements and make informed decisions based on the results of your farm cover.

An opening cover should be completed as soon as possible.

Covers of 1,300kg DM/ha can be considered for grazing as soon as possible.

Pay close attention to your grass wedge – ideally, your average farm cover should be coming close to 600kg DM/ha now and 700kg DM/ha by the middle of February. Once a second measurement is taken, a daily growth rate can then be calculated.

Have fertiliser ordered

Where grass growth is good, response to fertiliser is likely to be good.

In order to break even in terms of fertiliser costs compared with the value of grass grown, 1kg N/ha must deliver over 5kg DM/ha extra grass.

In a good spring, 1kg N/ha has the ability to grow 10kg to 15kg DM/ha.

Soil temperature is also important and needs to be over 5°C.

Urea should be spread in spring, as it represents better N value for money in comparison with CAN and it also works better in cooler, damper conditions.

An application of 23 units N/acre (half bag/acre) is recommended.

Have the slurry tank on standby

Also waiting on the expiration of the closed period is slurry spreading.

Once the closed period is expired, weather will then decide when slurry should be spread.

Ideal conditions are overcast, no wind and light rain. This will minimise N loss.

As it stands, ground conditions are excellent for travelling, so when conditions do allow, be ready to act.

Around 2,500 gallons/acre to 3,000 gallons/acre on lighter covers and poorer soils is best practice.

Consider spreading slurry on silage ground to reduce the P and K requirements when spreading fertiliser later on.

Soil sampling

Finally, soil sampling works best at this time of year.

Figures show that still only 15% of soils in the country are optimum for P, K and pH.

If you are considering soil sampling this spring, make sure to do so before spreading slurry.

Sampling ground spread with slurry will skew the levels of P and K in the soil.

Urea, which is straight N, will not affect soil sampling.