Throughout the BETTER Farm programme, the advantages of early turnout of cattle have been well publicised. There is no doubt that getting weanlings and store cattle out to grass early in the spring leads to increased weight gain at a low cost. In some suckler systems, it is this early grazing that can be the difference between profit and loss.
There is no set date to define what is termed an early turnout. In most cases, the biggest factor in determining when livestock go back out to grass is the land type.
Free draining ground is obviously a natural advantage as it is better suited to carrying cattle during wet weather.
Early turnout on these farms can occur in February, whereas in some of the more northern regions of the country the earliest some farms can get cattle back to grass is in early April.
There is nothing wrong with that date. The main point is that farmers on heavier land are trying to make more of their grazing land, despite serious limitations.
The fact that cattle are back grazing by a fortnight to one month earlier than normal, will still have a positive effect on performance.
It is crucial to plan for turnout and the grazing season. Early turnout does not mean opening the shed door and letting every animal out to grass. Instead, it should be a phased, planned approach.
Using the spring
rotation planner
The spring rotation planner is a simple table that can be used to set weekly targets for grazing in spring. If used properly, it allows the farmer to match the gradual turnout of cattle to the available grass covers, so that once animals are out they can remain out.
Table 1 is an example of the information required for a spring rotation planner. The farmer enters the date in the relevant column, the number of acres to be grazed each week and the actual number grazed. The first rotation should last approximately eight weeks to allow gradual turnout of stock and include the silage ground in the grazing area. The information required by the farmer includes:
The target turnout date for the first group of stock.The date you want to begin the second rotation When you expect grass growth to match stock demand, i.e. the magic day.The rotation planner is merely a guideline to follow. Start off by turning light weanlings out at a rate of 500kg to 1,000kg/ha (one 200kg to 400kg animal per acre).
Set out to have a certain area of land grazed off in the first week and use the table to see if you are ahead or falling behind this target.
If ahead of the weekly target do not turn out any more stock. Offer some concentrates to slow down grazing. If you are behind the weekly target, and ground conditions allow it, you can turn out some additional stock.
The rotation planner will ensure that there is sufficient grass ahead of stock to allow time for enough regrowth at the start of the second rotation. It will also ensure that grass does not run out before the start of the second rotation. Due to wet conditions this spring, turnout has probably been delayed on most farms, so this year a dry farm should (see Figure 1):
Turn out light weanlings from late February to early March. Have 40% of the farm, which includes the silage ground, grazed off by 20 to 25 March. Have 60% of the farm grazed off by 5 April.Have 100% of the farm grazed off by 20 April.While a heavier farm should:
Turn out light weanlings by 20 March.Have 40% of the farm, including silage area, grazed off by 5 April.Have 60% of the farm grazed off by 20 April.Have 100% of the farm grazed off by 1 May.Farm details
Willie Treacy has been involved in the BETTER Farm programme since the beginning of phase one and he is using the spring rotation planner to get animals back to grass from this week onward. Willie runs 110 cows on 65ha of grassland outside Dundalk, Co Louth.
Stocking rate increased from 1.65LU/ha to 2.95LU/ha in 2013 and maintaining such a high stocking rate requires excellent grassland management. Cows are evenly split between spring and autumn calving. Male progeny is sold as stores and heifers are finished, depending on the price.
Planning for turnout
With almost 70% of the spring herd now calved, housing space is under pressure. In previous years, Willie would have had yearling bulls and heifers out grazing from mid-February, but persistent rainfall has delayed turnout in 2014. The first group of stock to go out to grass will be 40 heifers born in spring 2013. In preparation for turnout, these animals have been on 2kg of concentrates and silage from housing on 12 November until 31 January, at which point the meal was cut down to 1kg/day per animal. Meal was removed last week in preparation for turnout.
Stock priority
The group of 40 heifers will be split into two, with the first 20 to 25 heifers going out this week, depending on the weather. Willie is planning to put them to drier silage ground with medium grass covers (6cm or 800kg DM/ha) until they have settled into grazing.
After a couple of days, they will then move to start grazing the heaviest covers (9cm or 1,250kg DM/ha) on a 20-acre grazing block. The remaining yearling heifers will then go out onto the drier silage ground and follow a similar routine.
The reason for the split turnout is to prevent too many animals going out at once and poaching ground if conditions turn unfavourable. Going into the medium covers first is to prevent low utilisation of heavy covers by freshly turned out animals, through lying and trampling.
Once grass growth increases, the group will be tightened up into one group with a potential 25% of these heifers separated out for breeding.
Cows
Going by the rotation planner, the second group of stock to be turned out is the autumn calves, which will be weaned through on/off grazing, with the cows remaining being housed.
The calves have been cut to 1kg/day of concentrates and will stay on this feed level until early April.
There is a 20-acre grazing block allocated for these animals. The autumn cows will be the last group to go back to grass and used as a sweeper group to control grass quality. Spring calving cows are the third group to be turned out and will graze off the remainder of the silage ground before moving onto grazing paddocks. There is 40 acres of silage ground on the farm and Willie plans to graze this area twice before closing in mid-April. The first rotation is to be finished by the target date of 15 April, when cattle will go back onto grazing paddocks until after second-cut silage.
Silage area
Willie’s policy is to only close up silage ground once there is substantial grass growth and greater than stock demand. Through weekly grass monitoring, he knows when this is possible. He believes closing ground and spreading up to 100 units of nitrogen per acre when growth rate is ahead of stock demand gives a better return on fertilizer, rather than closing early and spreading nitrogen in the hope of increasing growth.
Tight grazing of silage ground is now part and parcel of spring grazing on the farm. Silage yields have not been reduced by grazing into April, with first cuts usually hitting 10t/acre freshweight.
All grazing ground will be slurried after the first grazing, with 13 to 14 units/acre of CAN applied after each subsequent grazing.
Throughout the BETTER Farm programme, the advantages of early turnout of cattle have been well publicised. There is no doubt that getting weanlings and store cattle out to grass early in the spring leads to increased weight gain at a low cost. In some suckler systems, it is this early grazing that can be the difference between profit and loss.
There is no set date to define what is termed an early turnout. In most cases, the biggest factor in determining when livestock go back out to grass is the land type.
Free draining ground is obviously a natural advantage as it is better suited to carrying cattle during wet weather.
Early turnout on these farms can occur in February, whereas in some of the more northern regions of the country the earliest some farms can get cattle back to grass is in early April.
There is nothing wrong with that date. The main point is that farmers on heavier land are trying to make more of their grazing land, despite serious limitations.
The fact that cattle are back grazing by a fortnight to one month earlier than normal, will still have a positive effect on performance.
It is crucial to plan for turnout and the grazing season. Early turnout does not mean opening the shed door and letting every animal out to grass. Instead, it should be a phased, planned approach.
Using the spring
rotation planner
The spring rotation planner is a simple table that can be used to set weekly targets for grazing in spring. If used properly, it allows the farmer to match the gradual turnout of cattle to the available grass covers, so that once animals are out they can remain out.
Table 1 is an example of the information required for a spring rotation planner. The farmer enters the date in the relevant column, the number of acres to be grazed each week and the actual number grazed. The first rotation should last approximately eight weeks to allow gradual turnout of stock and include the silage ground in the grazing area. The information required by the farmer includes:
The target turnout date for the first group of stock.The date you want to begin the second rotation When you expect grass growth to match stock demand, i.e. the magic day.The rotation planner is merely a guideline to follow. Start off by turning light weanlings out at a rate of 500kg to 1,000kg/ha (one 200kg to 400kg animal per acre).
Set out to have a certain area of land grazed off in the first week and use the table to see if you are ahead or falling behind this target.
If ahead of the weekly target do not turn out any more stock. Offer some concentrates to slow down grazing. If you are behind the weekly target, and ground conditions allow it, you can turn out some additional stock.
The rotation planner will ensure that there is sufficient grass ahead of stock to allow time for enough regrowth at the start of the second rotation. It will also ensure that grass does not run out before the start of the second rotation. Due to wet conditions this spring, turnout has probably been delayed on most farms, so this year a dry farm should (see Figure 1):
Turn out light weanlings from late February to early March. Have 40% of the farm, which includes the silage ground, grazed off by 20 to 25 March. Have 60% of the farm grazed off by 5 April.Have 100% of the farm grazed off by 20 April.While a heavier farm should:
Turn out light weanlings by 20 March.Have 40% of the farm, including silage area, grazed off by 5 April.Have 60% of the farm grazed off by 20 April.Have 100% of the farm grazed off by 1 May.Farm details
Willie Treacy has been involved in the BETTER Farm programme since the beginning of phase one and he is using the spring rotation planner to get animals back to grass from this week onward. Willie runs 110 cows on 65ha of grassland outside Dundalk, Co Louth.
Stocking rate increased from 1.65LU/ha to 2.95LU/ha in 2013 and maintaining such a high stocking rate requires excellent grassland management. Cows are evenly split between spring and autumn calving. Male progeny is sold as stores and heifers are finished, depending on the price.
Planning for turnout
With almost 70% of the spring herd now calved, housing space is under pressure. In previous years, Willie would have had yearling bulls and heifers out grazing from mid-February, but persistent rainfall has delayed turnout in 2014. The first group of stock to go out to grass will be 40 heifers born in spring 2013. In preparation for turnout, these animals have been on 2kg of concentrates and silage from housing on 12 November until 31 January, at which point the meal was cut down to 1kg/day per animal. Meal was removed last week in preparation for turnout.
Stock priority
The group of 40 heifers will be split into two, with the first 20 to 25 heifers going out this week, depending on the weather. Willie is planning to put them to drier silage ground with medium grass covers (6cm or 800kg DM/ha) until they have settled into grazing.
After a couple of days, they will then move to start grazing the heaviest covers (9cm or 1,250kg DM/ha) on a 20-acre grazing block. The remaining yearling heifers will then go out onto the drier silage ground and follow a similar routine.
The reason for the split turnout is to prevent too many animals going out at once and poaching ground if conditions turn unfavourable. Going into the medium covers first is to prevent low utilisation of heavy covers by freshly turned out animals, through lying and trampling.
Once grass growth increases, the group will be tightened up into one group with a potential 25% of these heifers separated out for breeding.
Cows
Going by the rotation planner, the second group of stock to be turned out is the autumn calves, which will be weaned through on/off grazing, with the cows remaining being housed.
The calves have been cut to 1kg/day of concentrates and will stay on this feed level until early April.
There is a 20-acre grazing block allocated for these animals. The autumn cows will be the last group to go back to grass and used as a sweeper group to control grass quality. Spring calving cows are the third group to be turned out and will graze off the remainder of the silage ground before moving onto grazing paddocks. There is 40 acres of silage ground on the farm and Willie plans to graze this area twice before closing in mid-April. The first rotation is to be finished by the target date of 15 April, when cattle will go back onto grazing paddocks until after second-cut silage.
Silage area
Willie’s policy is to only close up silage ground once there is substantial grass growth and greater than stock demand. Through weekly grass monitoring, he knows when this is possible. He believes closing ground and spreading up to 100 units of nitrogen per acre when growth rate is ahead of stock demand gives a better return on fertilizer, rather than closing early and spreading nitrogen in the hope of increasing growth.
Tight grazing of silage ground is now part and parcel of spring grazing on the farm. Silage yields have not been reduced by grazing into April, with first cuts usually hitting 10t/acre freshweight.
All grazing ground will be slurried after the first grazing, with 13 to 14 units/acre of CAN applied after each subsequent grazing.
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