Soil moisture deficits across most of the east, midlands and south east are reducing grass growth rates.

Figures from PastureBase show that growth rates are now averaging 50kg/day in these regions, down from 70 to 80kg/day a week or 10 days ago.

Growth rates of 50kg/day is not bad but with a dry and warm week forecast, it’s likely to drop further over the coming days. Some rain is promised for next weekend but that is a good bit away yet and subject to change.

Rotation length

Some farmers have already started to feed silage to slow down the rotation length. This makes sense where the average farm cover is low and growth rates are lower than demand, meaning the average farm cover is decreasing.

Some people suggest that average farm cover shouldn’t drop below 500kg/ha and while I see the logic behind this, I would be of the view that if grass starts to disappear under heat and lack of moisture stress then it’s better to use it rather than lose it.

Average farm cover

To maintain average farm cover at 500kg/ha will require a huge amount of supplement and will mean very long rotation lengths and pushing out poor quality grass.

I think sticking to a 21 to 25 day rotation length is fine and use supplement to achieve that, even if it means letting average farm cover drop below 500kg/ha. It’s only when we are in a very prolonged dry spell that rotation lengths need to be longer.

In terms of feed, meal is easy but it’s not cheap. The cheapest rations I have seen are costing around €265/t and the standard rations are costing €280/t to €300/t. This is very expensive feed, especially when feeding rates are high.

Silage is another option. This is lower quality feed than meal and is usually cheaper but it takes extra work in feeding it out.

Generally, silage should be considered when more than 4kg or 5kg of meal is needed to hold the rotation length.

The preference should be to feed the highest quality silage available, which is usually in the form of bales made from surplus grass. There is approximately 200kg dry matter in a round bale of silage.