Grass
It continues to be a stubborn summer for grass for most. Average growth rates are currently 60kg per day but are expected to drop to 50kg/day for the next week.
Soil moisture deficits in the southeast are restricting growth, and the rain forecast is low and patchy at that. A lot of dairy farmers will have to go back to heavy feeding in the next week or so unless the situation changes.
Looking at the Pasturebase figures and speaking to a discussion group during the week, many farmers are carrying more grass than normal, with cover per cow up around 220kg on many farms.
While this means pre-grazing yields are higher than you’d like, the consensus was that it’s better to have some stemmy grass than no grass.
Avoid topping and pre-mowing until growth picks up again. If you have a surplus paddock or two now, maybe hold on to it for another week or 10 days and then decide whether to strip graze it or cut for silage.
Water
While air temperatures are back to normal, having adequate supplies of clean water is still important. I was chatting to a farmer during the week who cleaned out his water troughs just before the high temperatures came.
He couldn’t get over the amount of sludge at the base of the troughs, with two to three inches of black muck at the bottom of the trough.
While algae is often the most visible sign of dirty water, a full clean at least every 12 months is advised. Modern concrete troughs have rubber bungs which make the job easier.
Where not present some farmers attach a 2” suction hose to the slurry tank and suck out the water and sludge.
Considering milk is almost 90% water, and that cows can drink up to 70l per day in hot weather, it’s no wonder cows produce more milk when the water is clean.
Not enough water is another issue we come across on farms. Pipe size is much more important than trough size.
No matter how big the trough is, if the water can’t reach it fast enough then the cows will drink it dry. High pressure, as opposed to high volume ball cocks are another issue, as these restrict the flow of water into the trough.
Upgrading the water system from half or three-quarter inch pipes to 32mm or 40mm pipes will be a good long-term investment.
Summer tour
At Tuesday’s Irish Grassland Association summer dairy tour, host farmer Denis Cody made some good points;
He wanted to learn from the best farmers, so travelled to west Cork and to Westmeath for his college placements rather than going somewhere more local. He found dehorning calves time consuming and it wasn’t being done on time, resulting in a poor job. He has since outsourced this job to a contractor who comes in to do this every spring. The same man clips the cow’s tails four times per year. Denis said that when he came back from college and had big plans for the farm, his grandfather gave him this advice; “you can’t always have what you like, you have to like what you have first.”
Grass
It continues to be a stubborn summer for grass for most. Average growth rates are currently 60kg per day but are expected to drop to 50kg/day for the next week.
Soil moisture deficits in the southeast are restricting growth, and the rain forecast is low and patchy at that. A lot of dairy farmers will have to go back to heavy feeding in the next week or so unless the situation changes.
Looking at the Pasturebase figures and speaking to a discussion group during the week, many farmers are carrying more grass than normal, with cover per cow up around 220kg on many farms.
While this means pre-grazing yields are higher than you’d like, the consensus was that it’s better to have some stemmy grass than no grass.
Avoid topping and pre-mowing until growth picks up again. If you have a surplus paddock or two now, maybe hold on to it for another week or 10 days and then decide whether to strip graze it or cut for silage.
Water
While air temperatures are back to normal, having adequate supplies of clean water is still important. I was chatting to a farmer during the week who cleaned out his water troughs just before the high temperatures came.
He couldn’t get over the amount of sludge at the base of the troughs, with two to three inches of black muck at the bottom of the trough.
While algae is often the most visible sign of dirty water, a full clean at least every 12 months is advised. Modern concrete troughs have rubber bungs which make the job easier.
Where not present some farmers attach a 2” suction hose to the slurry tank and suck out the water and sludge.
Considering milk is almost 90% water, and that cows can drink up to 70l per day in hot weather, it’s no wonder cows produce more milk when the water is clean.
Not enough water is another issue we come across on farms. Pipe size is much more important than trough size.
No matter how big the trough is, if the water can’t reach it fast enough then the cows will drink it dry. High pressure, as opposed to high volume ball cocks are another issue, as these restrict the flow of water into the trough.
Upgrading the water system from half or three-quarter inch pipes to 32mm or 40mm pipes will be a good long-term investment.
Summer tour
At Tuesday’s Irish Grassland Association summer dairy tour, host farmer Denis Cody made some good points;
He wanted to learn from the best farmers, so travelled to west Cork and to Westmeath for his college placements rather than going somewhere more local. He found dehorning calves time consuming and it wasn’t being done on time, resulting in a poor job. He has since outsourced this job to a contractor who comes in to do this every spring. The same man clips the cow’s tails four times per year. Denis said that when he came back from college and had big plans for the farm, his grandfather gave him this advice; “you can’t always have what you like, you have to like what you have first.” 
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