Most soils across the country are at saturation point this week after the recent rain. This has pushed farms on heavier land types to close up and house full time. The majority of drier farms still have cows out by day or full time.
Average farm cover is the most important consideration now for all farms over the next number of weeks. The target on 1 December for closing cover is around 700kg DM/ha.
An over winter growth of 5kg/ha/day for the 60 days of December and January will mean an extra 300kg DM/ha, giving a total cover of 1,000kg DM/ha at the beginning of February.
This is an adequate cover for farms stocked above 2.5 cows/ha.
If the over winter growth on a farm is lower than this, a higher cover on 1 December will be needed.
Eating down the cover too low will mean too little grass on the farm in spring, and as a result extra supplement will be required.
Too high a cover will make management difficult in the spring as a lot of paddocks will have very high pre-grazing covers and they’ll be difficult to graze.
Where there are high covers on the farm currently, continue to graze as much as possible and keep supplement feeding low. Use spur roadways, strip wires and on/off grazing to prevent poaching of paddocks.
For farms on target with a cover around the 700kg DM/ha mark, keep demand below growth by supplementing with silage and possibly housing by night.
If the farm cover is low at less than 600kg DM/ha, it’s time to consider housing cows full time to allow the farm to recover.
Grazing conditions are difficult at the moment. Use on/off grazing to prevent damage and turn cows out with an appetite.Managing the farm towards the 1 December average farm cover target of at least 700kg DM/ha is key over the next couple of weeks.If the farm cover is high, reduce supplement feeding to get through paddocks. If cover is low, consider housing cows full timeApproximately 85-90% of the farm should be closed at this stage.Eoin McCormack – Teagasc Clonakilty, Co Cork
We’ve had 100mm of rain since the start of November., so grazing has become challenging. There’s good grazing infrastructure on this farm, so we can still get grass into cows. We have them in by night on silage and grazing by day when possible.
There’s about 15% of the farm area left to graze, so this will keep us grazing into late November.
Our average cover is quite low but as this is a clover trial we’re willing to run it down another bit to give clover the best chance to survive the winter. We have sold 10 of the empty cows now and we’ll be starting to dry off cows this week.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.73
Growth (kg/ha) 10
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 608
Yield (l/cow) 15.5
Fat (%) 5.61
Protein (%) 4.33
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.59
Concentrates (kg/cow) 2
Patrick O’Neill – Edgeworthstown, Co Longford
The cows have been out by day recently but we’ll be housing full time this week. The diet at the moment is 9kg of grass, 4kg of concentrate and 6kg of silage.
We had most of the heavy covers grazed off before the weather turned, so they’ve been going into nice covers around 1,350kg DM/ha and cleaning them out well.
We’ll be doing the final milk recording next Tuesday and we’ll start drying off cows from then on. We’re not calving until the middle of February here.
We’ve been milking on the empty cows as we weren’t highly stocked and grass was plentiful, but they’ll be going shortly as well.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.3
Growth (kg/ha) 15
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 700
Yield (l/cow) 14
Fat (%) 5.35
Protein (%) 4.2
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.38
Concentrates (kg/cow) 4
Ricki Fitzgerald – Teagasc Kilworth, Co Cork
We’ve had a lot of rain recently but the ground here soaks quickly, so grazing conditions are still relatively good. We’ve about 10% of the farm left to graze so the cows were housed by night last weekend to stretch out the remaining grass.
The current diet is 7kg of silage, 7kg of grass and 4kg of meal. Growth has been good in the last number of weeks and average farm cover is in a good place.
We’ll be holding the cover here until the start of December by matching demand with growth. The cows are going into covers of 1,400-1,500kg DM/ha and cleanouts have been very good.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.5
Growth (kg/ha) 25
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 710
Yield (l/cow) 13.5
Fat (%) 6.19
Protein (%) 4.79
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.53
Concentrates (kg/cow) 4
Most soils across the country are at saturation point this week after the recent rain. This has pushed farms on heavier land types to close up and house full time. The majority of drier farms still have cows out by day or full time.
Average farm cover is the most important consideration now for all farms over the next number of weeks. The target on 1 December for closing cover is around 700kg DM/ha.
An over winter growth of 5kg/ha/day for the 60 days of December and January will mean an extra 300kg DM/ha, giving a total cover of 1,000kg DM/ha at the beginning of February.
This is an adequate cover for farms stocked above 2.5 cows/ha.
If the over winter growth on a farm is lower than this, a higher cover on 1 December will be needed.
Eating down the cover too low will mean too little grass on the farm in spring, and as a result extra supplement will be required.
Too high a cover will make management difficult in the spring as a lot of paddocks will have very high pre-grazing covers and they’ll be difficult to graze.
Where there are high covers on the farm currently, continue to graze as much as possible and keep supplement feeding low. Use spur roadways, strip wires and on/off grazing to prevent poaching of paddocks.
For farms on target with a cover around the 700kg DM/ha mark, keep demand below growth by supplementing with silage and possibly housing by night.
If the farm cover is low at less than 600kg DM/ha, it’s time to consider housing cows full time to allow the farm to recover.
Grazing conditions are difficult at the moment. Use on/off grazing to prevent damage and turn cows out with an appetite.Managing the farm towards the 1 December average farm cover target of at least 700kg DM/ha is key over the next couple of weeks.If the farm cover is high, reduce supplement feeding to get through paddocks. If cover is low, consider housing cows full timeApproximately 85-90% of the farm should be closed at this stage.Eoin McCormack – Teagasc Clonakilty, Co Cork
We’ve had 100mm of rain since the start of November., so grazing has become challenging. There’s good grazing infrastructure on this farm, so we can still get grass into cows. We have them in by night on silage and grazing by day when possible.
There’s about 15% of the farm area left to graze, so this will keep us grazing into late November.
Our average cover is quite low but as this is a clover trial we’re willing to run it down another bit to give clover the best chance to survive the winter. We have sold 10 of the empty cows now and we’ll be starting to dry off cows this week.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.73
Growth (kg/ha) 10
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 608
Yield (l/cow) 15.5
Fat (%) 5.61
Protein (%) 4.33
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.59
Concentrates (kg/cow) 2
Patrick O’Neill – Edgeworthstown, Co Longford
The cows have been out by day recently but we’ll be housing full time this week. The diet at the moment is 9kg of grass, 4kg of concentrate and 6kg of silage.
We had most of the heavy covers grazed off before the weather turned, so they’ve been going into nice covers around 1,350kg DM/ha and cleaning them out well.
We’ll be doing the final milk recording next Tuesday and we’ll start drying off cows from then on. We’re not calving until the middle of February here.
We’ve been milking on the empty cows as we weren’t highly stocked and grass was plentiful, but they’ll be going shortly as well.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.3
Growth (kg/ha) 15
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 700
Yield (l/cow) 14
Fat (%) 5.35
Protein (%) 4.2
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.38
Concentrates (kg/cow) 4
Ricki Fitzgerald – Teagasc Kilworth, Co Cork
We’ve had a lot of rain recently but the ground here soaks quickly, so grazing conditions are still relatively good. We’ve about 10% of the farm left to graze so the cows were housed by night last weekend to stretch out the remaining grass.
The current diet is 7kg of silage, 7kg of grass and 4kg of meal. Growth has been good in the last number of weeks and average farm cover is in a good place.
We’ll be holding the cover here until the start of December by matching demand with growth. The cows are going into covers of 1,400-1,500kg DM/ha and cleanouts have been very good.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.5
Growth (kg/ha) 25
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 710
Yield (l/cow) 13.5
Fat (%) 6.19
Protein (%) 4.79
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.53
Concentrates (kg/cow) 4
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