Silage: The whole country seems to be at silage this week. For most farmers it’s earlier than normal but silage ground that wasn’t grazed is heavy and probably needs to be cut before it starts to deteriorate. Ground that was grazed isn’t any heavier than normal and ideally needs another fortnight or so to bulk up. I suppose the decision on whether to cut or not depends a lot on what type of animals will be fed with that silage.

For the typical spring-calving dairy farmer, most of the silage made will be fed to dry cows and they don’t need exceptional quality by any means, particularly not if they get a proper dry period length. Yes, there is a case to be made for cutting some silage early and having this as a reserve for a grass shortage during the summer or as a supplement to build up grass in the autumn. But for the average stocked farmer this buffer feed can be made from surplus grass during the summer. My advice for the typical spring-calving farmer who got most of the silage ground grazed in spring is to hold out a bit longer and get more bulk. By all means cut surplus paddocks and maybe a strong field or too for quality silage now, but hold the rest for a week or two longer to fill the pits. Some farmers are concerned about nitrates as fertiliser wasn’t out that long. The general rules are that nitrogen is used up at a rate of two units/ac in good growing conditions. Irrespective of spreading date, nitrates won’t be an issue when the grass is well wilted and in the current weather that won’t be an issue. There’s no real benefit of using silage additives when weather and grass quality is good.

Calves: Calves that have been weaned off milk should shortly be weaned off meal too if there’s good-quality grass available. Other than the benefits of making it easier to herd animals, feeding meal to calves that are on target for liveweight and have access to good-quality grass is not necessary. Meal is important in the early stages of the calf’s life, but when it goes over 100kg liveweight, it doesn’t need meal as it can eat enough grass to sustain growth rates. Pushing calves too hard in the first year doesn’t make sense as they only need to hit their target weights. By all means keep the youngest bunch of calves on meal or milk for longer to push them on. These are the animals that need all the extra care they can get. This means access to the best-quality grass and a kilo or two of meal per head per day until they catch up. Regular weighing is essential to know what animals are thriving and those that aren’t.

Reseeding: Some farmers are asking if it’s too dry to put in grass seeds. There’s no doubt about it but soils are drier than normal, even on what would be considered heavier soil types. My answer is there’s no reason why you wouldn’t put the grass seeds in, even if it is dry and germination is slower. As we saw last summer, the seeds won’t die in the ground. Some min-till machines work best when the soil is damp but that’s a different issue to whether it’s too dry to sow grass seeds.