Supplementation is still ongoing on farms along the east and south at heavy rates. Some farmers had covers that were not ideal in terms of quality, but still got them through July, though these covers are now gone and re-growth is as good as nil on them.

For suckler farmers, there is little more that can be done than to feed out silage or hay. Concentrates to suckler cows are poor value, and should be concentrated on weanlings through creep grazing. Caution also needs to be exercised in increasing concentrate supplementation to finishing cattle. It can work well to get cattle away quicker (albeit it at an extra cost) provided that they have the frame for it. Over-feeding smaller framed store cattle will result in them becoming over fat at too light of a carcase weight.

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Regarding slurry or fertiliser, the advice remains the same. Applications of both should only go out on ground that has sufficient moisture in it. Nitrogen is not the limiting factor on growth, and we will likely see paddocks that have not been spread with N for many weeks grow at the same rate as those recently applied due to locked up N being released by the moisture.

Ken Gill, Clonbollogue, Co Offaly

Cover disappeared very fast. Thankfully I have 20 finished cattle going tomorrow, which should help ease the pressure. Twelve cows calved to date and they are still on some older, stemmier swards that they are content on. I’ve been lucky not to have to feed silage yet, as fodder supplies are tight after the buffer was eaten this spring.

There are some nice green paddocks ahead of the store cattle and weanlings, but if we don’t get rain soon, we will be in trouble. The red clover that was under sowing the pea and barely mix is growing very slowly due to a lack of rainfall.

Third-cut red clover from the established sward is looking nice, but is still light and has now flowered. More silage is needed ahead of the winter period. Despite the lack of rain, calving is going well.

System:Organic suckler to beef

Soil Type;Variable

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha):463

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day):11

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day):26

Peter Doyle, Derrypatrick Herd, Co Meath

Things remain very dry with just 4mm of rain in the last seven days. We have gone in with silage to the herd, with mature cows on silage-only in paddocks that have been ear marked for reseeding in spring 2027, while first-calved heifers and thinner cows are on grazed grass only. Calves are being creep grazed ahead of cows. At this stage we would have to see cover rise to 700-750kg DM/ha before removing supplementation, but this will be challenging. This drought has proved worse than 2018, due to how late it has extended in to. Despite this, cattle are performing well. Yearling bullocks and heifers were weighed two weeks ago, with bullocks averaging 575kg and heifers averaging 545kg, with an average daily gain across both groups of 0.92kg/day, with calves currently doing 1.3kg/day.

System :Suckler to beef

Soil Type:Variable

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha):400

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day):15

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day):20

Trevor Boland, Dromard, Co Sligo

While the last few days have been dry (but warm) we had plenty of rainfall in the two weeks before that. I took the opportunity to spread about 70% of the farm with two bags/acre of 18-6-12, which will be the last fertiliser application of the year. All silage is complete and we should have ample fodder. While I know it was a challenging summer for many, the warm, dry summer suited grass growth here in the west. Beef heifers at grass have been started on concentrates, with the intention being to slaughter these off grass in the next two to three months. I’m nearly halfway through calving now with all going well so far. Cows have all been calved outdoors, with heifers calved indoors. Just one heifer remains left to calve. The first of the bulls have been sold from the yard for export, with more oncoming.

System :Suckler to weanling/ beef

Soil Type;Variable

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha):910

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day):65

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day):45