Growth rates have improved again slightly in the past week due to the continued warm and dry weather. However, some areas, particularly in the east and south, are suffering slightly in terms of growth rates due to soil moisture deficits.
Light rain has eased the pressure slightly in some areas. With high pressure due to dominate for the coming weeks, many farmers on dry ground are becoming reluctant to remove surplus paddocks just yet, particularly those on dry farms where a high stocking rate is being run.
In contrast, farmers on heavy ground where grazing was difficult in the past month or so are battling to improve grass quality. Where fertiliser inputs were low in the past few weeks, grass is heading out quickly. However, where post grazing sward heights of 4-5cm were achieved, grass quality and pre-grazing sward heights are not an issue.
Silage crops have been harvested on most farms at this stage. Quality is good and swards achieved a 24-hour wilt in the majority of cases. Slurry is being applied to cut swards at a rate of 2,500-3,000gals/acre.
Chemical fertiliser will be applied about a week after the slurry to avoid nitrogen losses. Breeding is progressing well on the farms, with farmers commenting on how cows are expressing stronger heats now compared to a few weeks ago during the cold, unsettled weather.
Growth rates improving on heavy land. Soil moisture deficits starting to cause concerns in some areas. Grass quality continues to be an issue on heavy farms with low stocking rates. Grass quality remains good where post grazing sward heights have been achieved. Silage now cut on most farms.Tomas Murphy
Co Laois
Farming system Suckler to store
Land type Free-draining/hilly
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 77
Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha) 809
Grass growth is doing well here in Durrow. I recorded a growth rate of 77kg DM/ha last week and 64kg DM/ha the week before. I am stocked at 3.27 LU/Ha (2,272kg LW/ha) on my home farm with cows and calves and replacement heifers.
My daily demand is 45kg DM/ha/day and my average farm cover is 809kg DM/ha. Currently I have 18 days ahead which is safe as I am cautious about the farm getting very dry with the recent good weather. I have no strong paddocks on this grazing block as pre-grazing yields are on target at 10-11 cm (1,500-1,700kg DM/ha) and the cows are grazing out the paddocks in two to two and a half days. With the dry weather paddocks are being cleaned out well to 3.5-4cm.
I mowed my silage ground last Wednesday and picked it up on the Thursday after a 24-hour wilt. I am continuing to spread fertiliser after each grazing to keep the sward leafy. Paddocks on the home block have got four bags/ac of 18-6-12 and I will start spreading CAN from now on.
Donie Ahern
Co Limerick
Farming system Suckler to beef
Land type Dry, free-draining
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 34
Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha) 843
Silage was cut last week, slightly later than planned, but quality remained good. I have almost one of my pits left over from last year, so between that and this year’s first cut, I have two full pits and over 240 bales in the yard which is ample for my winter requirement.
My most recent grass growth was 34kg/day and my average farm cover is 843kg/ha. I expect my growth rates to pick up now as the after-grass comes back into the rotation. Some of the silage fields are from reseeded swards and will deliver higher growth rates. I am applying 30 units of nitrogen after each grazing to keep growth going. I am planning to reseed a silage field by stitching in grass seed after burning off with glyphosate.
I have weighed a group of 25 bulls at grass. They have gained 1.6kg/day since early April on grass alone, similar to what I achieved over the past two years. Meal will be introduced later in the summer with the aim of an autumn finish. Heifers will be treated in a similar manner.
Richard Jennings
Co Mayo
Farming system Suckler to weanling
Land type Dry to heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 69
Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha) 850
Last week, I harvested 28 acres of silage ground. This ground was grazed very tight earlier in the spring with ewes so I expect it to be top-quality silage. I applied a bag of pasturesward since then and it will get 2,000 gallons of slurry per acre in the next few days.
Calves seem to be performing well at grass at the moment. I am fortunate not to have had to rehouse stock during the poor weather conditions so the calves haven’t gotten any setback.
This year, I have kept all triplet lambed ewes together. They are getting 250g/head/day of concentrates. I have two groups of lambs sold so far this year. There will be 15 more lambs ready to go by next week again.
The lambs are creep grazing in front of the ewes currently and this is a huge benefit to the lambs as they are grazing quality grass throughout the season so far and it is a very cheap method to put on weight.
Liam McWeeney
Derrypatrick
Farming system Suckler to Beef
Land type Dry to heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 70
Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha) 788
We grew 70kg DM/ha this week, which is still above our demand of 58kg. However, it has dropped off a little from 77kg last week. There is some rain forecast for the weekend and hopefully this will help the reseeded paddocks. Our average farm cover is at 788kg/ha, which is a little above target, but taking out the six paddocks last week has lowered our pre-grazing covers and we are currently going into covers of 1,500-1,600kg DM/ha.
We have 14 days ahead at the moment and we are stocked at 2,990kg/lw/ha or 4.63 LU/ha. Fertiliser and slurry has gone out on the silage ground for second cut. Bulls will be taken out from heifers after seven weeks’ breeding on 28 June. Breeding will continue in the main herd until 17 July.
We scanned the 61 cows we synchronized last week 35 days after fixed-time AI and 31 were proven in-calf which was a 50% conception rate to the AI programme. We had two cows with cysts and they received prostaglandin. We will scan again on 20 July to determine our six-week pregnancy rate.
Growth rates have improved again slightly in the past week due to the continued warm and dry weather. However, some areas, particularly in the east and south, are suffering slightly in terms of growth rates due to soil moisture deficits.
Light rain has eased the pressure slightly in some areas. With high pressure due to dominate for the coming weeks, many farmers on dry ground are becoming reluctant to remove surplus paddocks just yet, particularly those on dry farms where a high stocking rate is being run.
In contrast, farmers on heavy ground where grazing was difficult in the past month or so are battling to improve grass quality. Where fertiliser inputs were low in the past few weeks, grass is heading out quickly. However, where post grazing sward heights of 4-5cm were achieved, grass quality and pre-grazing sward heights are not an issue.
Silage crops have been harvested on most farms at this stage. Quality is good and swards achieved a 24-hour wilt in the majority of cases. Slurry is being applied to cut swards at a rate of 2,500-3,000gals/acre.
Chemical fertiliser will be applied about a week after the slurry to avoid nitrogen losses. Breeding is progressing well on the farms, with farmers commenting on how cows are expressing stronger heats now compared to a few weeks ago during the cold, unsettled weather.
Growth rates improving on heavy land. Soil moisture deficits starting to cause concerns in some areas. Grass quality continues to be an issue on heavy farms with low stocking rates. Grass quality remains good where post grazing sward heights have been achieved. Silage now cut on most farms.Tomas Murphy
Co Laois
Farming system Suckler to store
Land type Free-draining/hilly
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 77
Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha) 809
Grass growth is doing well here in Durrow. I recorded a growth rate of 77kg DM/ha last week and 64kg DM/ha the week before. I am stocked at 3.27 LU/Ha (2,272kg LW/ha) on my home farm with cows and calves and replacement heifers.
My daily demand is 45kg DM/ha/day and my average farm cover is 809kg DM/ha. Currently I have 18 days ahead which is safe as I am cautious about the farm getting very dry with the recent good weather. I have no strong paddocks on this grazing block as pre-grazing yields are on target at 10-11 cm (1,500-1,700kg DM/ha) and the cows are grazing out the paddocks in two to two and a half days. With the dry weather paddocks are being cleaned out well to 3.5-4cm.
I mowed my silage ground last Wednesday and picked it up on the Thursday after a 24-hour wilt. I am continuing to spread fertiliser after each grazing to keep the sward leafy. Paddocks on the home block have got four bags/ac of 18-6-12 and I will start spreading CAN from now on.
Donie Ahern
Co Limerick
Farming system Suckler to beef
Land type Dry, free-draining
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 34
Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha) 843
Silage was cut last week, slightly later than planned, but quality remained good. I have almost one of my pits left over from last year, so between that and this year’s first cut, I have two full pits and over 240 bales in the yard which is ample for my winter requirement.
My most recent grass growth was 34kg/day and my average farm cover is 843kg/ha. I expect my growth rates to pick up now as the after-grass comes back into the rotation. Some of the silage fields are from reseeded swards and will deliver higher growth rates. I am applying 30 units of nitrogen after each grazing to keep growth going. I am planning to reseed a silage field by stitching in grass seed after burning off with glyphosate.
I have weighed a group of 25 bulls at grass. They have gained 1.6kg/day since early April on grass alone, similar to what I achieved over the past two years. Meal will be introduced later in the summer with the aim of an autumn finish. Heifers will be treated in a similar manner.
Richard Jennings
Co Mayo
Farming system Suckler to weanling
Land type Dry to heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 69
Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha) 850
Last week, I harvested 28 acres of silage ground. This ground was grazed very tight earlier in the spring with ewes so I expect it to be top-quality silage. I applied a bag of pasturesward since then and it will get 2,000 gallons of slurry per acre in the next few days.
Calves seem to be performing well at grass at the moment. I am fortunate not to have had to rehouse stock during the poor weather conditions so the calves haven’t gotten any setback.
This year, I have kept all triplet lambed ewes together. They are getting 250g/head/day of concentrates. I have two groups of lambs sold so far this year. There will be 15 more lambs ready to go by next week again.
The lambs are creep grazing in front of the ewes currently and this is a huge benefit to the lambs as they are grazing quality grass throughout the season so far and it is a very cheap method to put on weight.
Liam McWeeney
Derrypatrick
Farming system Suckler to Beef
Land type Dry to heavy
Growth rate (kg DM/ha) 70
Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha) 788
We grew 70kg DM/ha this week, which is still above our demand of 58kg. However, it has dropped off a little from 77kg last week. There is some rain forecast for the weekend and hopefully this will help the reseeded paddocks. Our average farm cover is at 788kg/ha, which is a little above target, but taking out the six paddocks last week has lowered our pre-grazing covers and we are currently going into covers of 1,500-1,600kg DM/ha.
We have 14 days ahead at the moment and we are stocked at 2,990kg/lw/ha or 4.63 LU/ha. Fertiliser and slurry has gone out on the silage ground for second cut. Bulls will be taken out from heifers after seven weeks’ breeding on 28 June. Breeding will continue in the main herd until 17 July.
We scanned the 61 cows we synchronized last week 35 days after fixed-time AI and 31 were proven in-calf which was a 50% conception rate to the AI programme. We had two cows with cysts and they received prostaglandin. We will scan again on 20 July to determine our six-week pregnancy rate.
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