What a difference a week makes. Average grass growth on our Grass+ farms this week is 17kg/day. Weather over the past week has been very good overall and most farmers have cattle back out grazing fulltime, or at least by day on heavy farms.
The challenge now is to get the farm back on track. Average farm covers are high on most farms at between 800 and 1,200kg/ha. High grass covers with a low percentage of the farm grazed to date along with high growth rates could signal trouble ahead.
Cows really need to start eating into the average farm cover to bring it down. If they don’t you will have a massive surplus at the end of this month – effectively half the farm will be fit for silage. That means you will only have the other half of the farm available for grazing in the second round and because you don’t have much of the farm grazed to date, the regrowth on this area will be low.
So you can very easily fall into the trap of having a huge grass surplus to a huge grass deficit in a matter of days.
The sooner you bring this cover down the better because you want as long a growing period as possible for the re-growths. The normal target is to have about 66% of the farm grazed by today on farms that target to end the first round in the first week of April with an AFC of 500kg/ha.
Most farmers have less than this grazed because of the weather. You must remove silage and as much meal as possible from the diet to increase demand for grass.
Consider grazing some fields with dry cows and maiden heifers.
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Weather over the past week has been excellent and herds are now back out grazing.Most farms have more grass than normal.This needs to be grazed off to prevent a big surplus at the end of the month.Target an average farm cover of 500kg/ha by early April. 
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.9
Growth Rate (kg/day) 21
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1,013
Yield (l/cow/day) 21
Fat % 5.28
Protein % 3.43
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.88
Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 1
Grazing conditions are excellent and we have loads of grass and not enough of the farm grazed to date. We have 58% grazed when we should have 66% and the farm cover is way higher than the budget. We are tackling this three ways. All the dry cows are out grazing covers of 900kg/ha and being moved every 12 hours. We have reduced the meal to milkers to 1kg/day and we are opening grass up to cows, allocating 15kg/day and they are eating it with good clean-outs. We have 85% of the cows calved and 40 units/acre of nitrogen was spread last week.
Shinagh Farm, Co Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.76
Growth rate (kg/day) 33
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1,191
Yield (l/cow/day) 23.2
Fat % 4.56
Protein % 3.61
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.95
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2.5
We have only missed one grazing so far this spring but it was tough going for a long time when ground was wet. Growth has been excellent all winter and spring so we have a very high farm cover. We even have two paddocks at close to 3,000kg but we will graze these now when conditions are good.
We have 88% of the herd calved and 58% of the farm grazed. Calving has been going well with no major issues but it has slowed down a lot now after a hectic start. The next step is to take out the meal.
Caherlistrane, Galway
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.7
Growth rate (kg/day) 10
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 725
Yield (l/cow/day) 21.9
Fat % 5.45
Protein % 3.58
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.04
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
We have about 50% of the farm grazed, having only missed four grazings so far this spring. We did some damage when the weather was bad but it is recovering well. I am more or less on target for average farm cover and I plan to start the second round on 4 April. We have 70 units of nitrogen out to date so I am expecting a good lift in growth rates over the next few weeks. Cows are milking well but I will be reducing the meal feeding in line with the grass budget. I need to have a cover of 500kg at the start of the second round.
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.9
Growth rate (kg/day) 17
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 890
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.6
Fat % 5.06
Protein % 3.49
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.81
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
Ground conditions have improved dramatically and cows have been out full-time for the past week. We are grazing lighter covers of 1,200kg and clean-out is pretty good. We still have higher covers yet to graze but they need a bit more drying before we will go in there.
We are spreading the second round of nitrogen now, covering the farm with 46 units of urea/acre. We have 82% of the cows calved and 35% of the farm grazed. We are still feeding 3kg of meal which won’t change for another while.
Read more
Grass+ beef: good weather for growing and grazing
What a difference a week makes. Average grass growth on our Grass+ farms this week is 17kg/day. Weather over the past week has been very good overall and most farmers have cattle back out grazing fulltime, or at least by day on heavy farms.
The challenge now is to get the farm back on track. Average farm covers are high on most farms at between 800 and 1,200kg/ha. High grass covers with a low percentage of the farm grazed to date along with high growth rates could signal trouble ahead.
Cows really need to start eating into the average farm cover to bring it down. If they don’t you will have a massive surplus at the end of this month – effectively half the farm will be fit for silage. That means you will only have the other half of the farm available for grazing in the second round and because you don’t have much of the farm grazed to date, the regrowth on this area will be low.
So you can very easily fall into the trap of having a huge grass surplus to a huge grass deficit in a matter of days.
The sooner you bring this cover down the better because you want as long a growing period as possible for the re-growths. The normal target is to have about 66% of the farm grazed by today on farms that target to end the first round in the first week of April with an AFC of 500kg/ha.
Most farmers have less than this grazed because of the weather. You must remove silage and as much meal as possible from the diet to increase demand for grass.
Consider grazing some fields with dry cows and maiden heifers.
![]()
Weather over the past week has been excellent and herds are now back out grazing.Most farms have more grass than normal.This needs to be grazed off to prevent a big surplus at the end of the month.Target an average farm cover of 500kg/ha by early April.
Teagasc Curtins Farm
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.9
Growth Rate (kg/day) 21
Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1,013
Yield (l/cow/day) 21
Fat % 5.28
Protein % 3.43
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.88
Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 1
Grazing conditions are excellent and we have loads of grass and not enough of the farm grazed to date. We have 58% grazed when we should have 66% and the farm cover is way higher than the budget. We are tackling this three ways. All the dry cows are out grazing covers of 900kg/ha and being moved every 12 hours. We have reduced the meal to milkers to 1kg/day and we are opening grass up to cows, allocating 15kg/day and they are eating it with good clean-outs. We have 85% of the cows calved and 40 units/acre of nitrogen was spread last week.
Shinagh Farm, Co Cork
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.76
Growth rate (kg/day) 33
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1,191
Yield (l/cow/day) 23.2
Fat % 4.56
Protein % 3.61
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.95
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 2.5
We have only missed one grazing so far this spring but it was tough going for a long time when ground was wet. Growth has been excellent all winter and spring so we have a very high farm cover. We even have two paddocks at close to 3,000kg but we will graze these now when conditions are good.
We have 88% of the herd calved and 58% of the farm grazed. Calving has been going well with no major issues but it has slowed down a lot now after a hectic start. The next step is to take out the meal.
Caherlistrane, Galway
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.7
Growth rate (kg/day) 10
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 725
Yield (l/cow/day) 21.9
Fat % 5.45
Protein % 3.58
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.04
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 5
We have about 50% of the farm grazed, having only missed four grazings so far this spring. We did some damage when the weather was bad but it is recovering well. I am more or less on target for average farm cover and I plan to start the second round on 4 April. We have 70 units of nitrogen out to date so I am expecting a good lift in growth rates over the next few weeks. Cows are milking well but I will be reducing the meal feeding in line with the grass budget. I need to have a cover of 500kg at the start of the second round.
Teagasc Ballyhaise
Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.9
Growth rate (kg/day) 17
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 890
Yield (l/cow/day) 20.6
Fat % 5.06
Protein % 3.49
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.81
Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3
Ground conditions have improved dramatically and cows have been out full-time for the past week. We are grazing lighter covers of 1,200kg and clean-out is pretty good. We still have higher covers yet to graze but they need a bit more drying before we will go in there.
We are spreading the second round of nitrogen now, covering the farm with 46 units of urea/acre. We have 82% of the cows calved and 35% of the farm grazed. We are still feeding 3kg of meal which won’t change for another while.
Read more
Grass+ beef: good weather for growing and grazing
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