The Grass Week: growth in good position ahead of long weekend

Growth is in a good position as we head into the August bank holiday.

Race goers in Galway have been blessed with some good weather for the week, but I always feel a slight pang of disappointment when the race week passes, as it marks a drawing in of the evenings. And dare I say, it can be already felt.

So, for this reason, while growth is excellent at the minute, be cautious of taking out too much ground in surplus silage.

A colder or wetter week combined with the shortened evenings could see regrowths on these tightly-mown paddocks be hammered.

If you are looking to build grass, then August is the month to do it.

Building v not building grass

There’s been a lot of debate over the past few years around the merits of building grass for autumn grazing.

Its principles are simple - build a bank of grass that you can eat into when growth slows down, therefore staying at grass for longer.

What some people find issue with it is regarding building pre-grazing yields up to 2,000kg DM/ha, which makes them difficult to graze in wet weather, slower to regrow and are a less energy-dense feed than lower covers.

It’s based off cheap feed (grass) forming as much of the cow’s diet as possible.

People against building grass will continue on as normal, grazing covers of 1,400kg-plus DM/ha and supplementing with meal and/or silage to fill the gap in the wedge as required.

Ground will be quick to regrow and easier to graze cleanly, though it does mean more expensive feed (silage and concentrates) going into cows.

What to do

So, which is the right one to do?

Teagasc will point at the former making the most sense on paper and I’m inclined to agree with them to a certain extent for dry farms that can continue to graze late in the season and with ground that will likely not get poached.

However, if you have a wet farm, there is likely merit in doing the latter.

There are few things more sickening than a heavy cover of grass blowing in the wind all winter where wet weather has forced cows inside.

It’s all horses for courses really - a bit like Galway.