Fertiliser

High temperatures and little or no rainfall over the next week means one thing: fertiliser time. Those who spread nitrogen at the end of January/early February will need to spread their second application now. The target for most intensive dairy farmers is to have 85kgN/ha (70 units/acre) out by 1 April. So if 30kgN/ha was spread in the first round, 55kgN/ha (44 units/acre) needs to be spread now. This is roughly equivalent to one bag/acre of urea. With relatively stable weather, it’s a good time to get compounds spread on fields that need a maintenance dressing or a top-up. The product of choice is 18:6:12 and it represents good value for P and K when compared to what you pay for P and K in products such as 24:2.5:10. Farmers who went with the second round of fertiliser in late February, before the weather broke, are wondering if there’s any of that nitrogen left for plant uptake. I don’t think nitrogen is lacking in fields that have got two rounds of fertiliser. However, I would be inclined to go a little bit earlier with the third round of fertiliser than might have been originally planned. For example, if a field got 30kgN/ha in mid-January and 44kgN/ha in late February, then I would be spreading 40kgN/ha towards the end of next week and then following cows with nitrogen from the middle of April. See grassland management advice on pages 32, 33, 36 and 37.

Late calvers

Most farmers are now into the endgame of calving, with percentages remaining to calve in single digits. It’s going to take a fair challenge to get these cows back in calf, let alone get them to calve before this time next year. A big risk is these cows getting over fat before calving, then losing a lot of condition after calving which reduces their chances of going back in-calf even further. Fat cows have a greater risk of milk fever also. Restricting their silage will prevent them from getting over-conditioned and it will prevent wastage at the feed face also. Cows that are fat now only need to be fed 8kg or 9kg of dry matter until they calve. Count how many cows are left to calve and estimate the quantity of silage in a grab. This will tell you how many grabs you need to put out. Best policy is to feed at night to encourage daytime calving.

Reseeding

Now is the time to be identifying the fields for reseeding and putting a plan in place for carrying it out. Low-performing fields with a low level of perennial ryegrass should be earmarked for reseeding, but only when underlying issues such as soil fertility and drainage are tackled first. Too many farmers reseed, only for the new grass to be replaced by weed species within three or four years because soil fertility wasn’t addressed. Reseeding with perennial ryegrass without correcting soil fertility is like putting dirty diesel in a Ferrari. If grass growth rates are good in early April, then be prepared to start spraying off fields. An early spring reseed has a much faster turnaround time and better outcomes than autumn reseeding. However, autumn reseeding is probably unavoidable, if you are reseeding dedicated silage ground.