A good week of weather at last

After a very mixed bag last week, the weather this week has made things a bit easier on farms.

Growth rates are up and starting to lift above demand on most farms for the first time.

Very quickly, grass can run out of control at this time of year, so it’s important to monitor things closely and walk the farm at least once a week.

The grass wedge will be needed to help determine timely decisions over the coming weeks.

Ensure cover is not dropping below 550kg DM/ha or 180kg DM/cow.

On the flip side, where average farm cover is getting high (greater than 700kg DM/ha) and growth is rising above demand, heavier covers will need to be taken out as surplus bales.

In terms of grass quality, it’s important to get residuals right from now on or the quality of swards will start to suffer in the summer months.

On heavier farms that have struggled to graze in recent weeks, and where the cows are now going into heavy covers and cleaning them out poorly, it’s worth prioritising these paddocks for the surplus bales in the next round. Although the paddock will come back slower, it will help to correct quality.

Fertiliser

The target for nitrogen spread by early May is 80 units/acre. Some farms have only one round of fertiliser out so far and most farms are below the nitrogen target.

For farms with good levels of clover, this will be the last round of full-rate nitrogen. From mid-May on clover paddocks should be getting half rate nitrogen.

If a compound has not yet been spread, it should be prioritised. A product like 18-6-12 plus sulphur is a good option for farms with a P allowance.

All farms should be reseeding at least 10% of the platform each year. Those paddocks that have been selected for a spring reseed need to be burned off in the coming week. The longer it’s delayed, the greater the risk of a dry spell and reseeds that fail to germinate.

Use the pasture profit index (PPI) when selecting seed varieties.

Dromore West, Co Sligo

We’re over 25% of the way through the second round here at the moment. We were getting worried about farm cover but thankfully this week has come good and growth rates are starting to bounce now. There’s 50 units/acre of nitrogen out to date and we’re following the cows with 2,500 gallons/acre of slurry. It’s all first and second calvers on this farm so we’re happy enough with performance. The plan is to start breeding now on 11 May here.

Teagasc Curtin’s, Co Cork

We’re over two-thirds of the way through the second round now and we’ve taken 12% of the platform out for reseeding. That ground has been sprayed off and will be seeded next week. We had skipped 10% of the first round and that’s been taken out as surplus bales this week. Aside from that we’ve another 5% out for first cut silage. This has driven our demand up but growth is matching it. The cows are in good condition and breeding will start on 29 April.

Leighlinbrige, Co Carlow

Growth has been a bit sluggish the last few days with the cold harsh wind we’ve been getting but once it starts to lift, we’ll be in a good position. We have 60 units/acre of nitrogen out on the whole farm and we’re following cows with another 18 units/acre. There are 11 acres out for reseeding that has a cover of 300kg DM/ha on it now. This will be burned off and grazed five days later before seeding. Growth permitting we’ll do another 10 acres next week.