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The country has had between 40mm and 90mm of rain over the last 10 days and this has made land wet.
Some land can cope with the rain, if it gets a chance to soak in between showers.
I was on free-draining land in Wexford on Monday, but the fields were soaked and the cows were doing damage.
Washout
Looking at the Met Éireann data afterwards, it showed that Johnstown Castle got 87mm of rain over the past week – a washout.
Cows have been motoring through grass and average farm cover is declining.
If they open with a cover of 1,100kg/ha on 1 February, it’ll be a great start to the year
I think most farmers should aim to have a closing cover on 1 December of between 650kg and 800kg/ha.
Some higher-stocked farmers that have a high demand in February are suggesting a closing cover of 850kg/ha on 1 December.
Is this too high? I don’t think so.
If they open with a cover of 1,100kg/ha on 1 February, it’ll be a great start to the year and allow them to leave cows out day and night straight away, if ground conditions allow.
Historic data
Looking at historic growth rate data, most farms should grow between 200kg and 250kg/ha between now and 1 December.
So if your target is to close at 800kg/ha and you think you’ll grow 200kg for the rest of November, if you’re at a cover of 600kg/ha now, then you need to stop grazing.
Generally speaking, grass swards are looking really good with very little dead material.
This should help to prevent further decay over the winter. But let’s face it, some decay will occur and some cover will be lost.
Carry a higher cover
My attitude is it’s better to carry over a higher cover and allow some of it to die and still open at a high cover than to carry over very little grass, lose very little of it and open at a low cover.
If buffer-feeding cows silage, feed space is critically important. More bullying and an increased risk of lameness and injury will occur if feed space is tight. Body condition score will drop also.
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