Philip breezed in the door a few days ago. “Well Mom, the drought is well and truly here,” he said. “I told ye that it was coming a fortnight ago,” shouted Tim from the office. The latest Moorepark figure had grass growth down to 30 kg/ha per day. It was a whopping 80 two weeks previously.

Grass had been growing well, but it was hard to keep the quality in it.

The inclination for the seed heads to spring up was a constant threat. It’s the way the plant works to regenerate itself. It could feel the change in the soil moisture level and was responding accordingly.

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Nature is so powerful in its responses. So, it was important for us to harvest the pastures that contained more clover for silage on the heifer block and graze the ones inclined to go stemmy before they actually did. That meant grazing lighter covers.

Colm and Elaine were away on holidays a few weeks back. It is difficult to manage grass from afar. A text message came to Tim wondering if he’d do a grass walk/drive on the leased farm to inform the grass wedge. We headed off together. I always learn something on my excursions around the farm with Tim. He’s been storing up knowledge since he was a little boy.

I see Ricky, his grandson, doing the same now. He’s thirsty for knowledge, and when he comes up against a problem or an unanswered question in his little six-year-old mind, he says, ‘I’ll ask Tim,’ and he does.

He’s more knowledgeable than the rest of us, even though none of us would admit that to Tim.

It was a gorgeous day and the lush grass and animals looked magnificent, spread out across the grazing plot. Tim had printed off the recent grazing dates, fields that had been cut for silage and so on, as he wouldn’t be as familiar with the grass management on that farm.

We still must protect the grass and watch what’s happening to the wedge going forward. Baled silage will form a significant part of the diet for the cows for the weeks ahead, costing half as much as ration

Two magnificent birds

There was a beautiful laneway down through the wood and then it opened out into fields on the left. “Look,” said Tim, “see the cock pheasant.” He is so much faster than I am at spotting these precious sightings.

The beautiful, plump bird was trotting away from us, his golden plumage glistening in the sun. Then Tim spotted another cock pheasant running after the first and just as majestic. Two big healthy birds. He informed me that they were fighting over territory.

Never are cock pheasants seen together unless the war over the hens is on. We’ve seen two other cock pheasants here at home since. Apparently, their territory can run from one acre up to 10 – a new story for Ricky.

Since that grass walk, there has been plenty of good quality silage harvested. A wet May and June resulted in an abundance of grass growth. The same has happened on most farms. We are getting better at managing droughts and expecting them.

The bales are there and ready for opening. Tim and Colm believe in intervention sooner rather than later.

We still must protect the grass and watch what’s happening to the wedge going forward. Baled silage will form a significant part of the diet for the cows for the weeks ahead, costing half as much as ration.

We are heading off on our holidays next week and we are happy to be going to Scotland. The accidents as a result of wild fires and cancellations of holidays in southern and eastern Europe are frightening stories.

It’s coming to a time when we will have to avoid those countries during July and August.

Like managing droughts, holidays have to be managed too. It’s about being sensible.