There’s been a reprieve from the heavy rain in the early parts of this week. This has taken a bit of pressure off heavier farms which in some cases had started housing cows or were strongly considering housing.
Growth rates have held around the late 40s and some farms have managed to recover average farm cover to a decent place. In the main though, farms are still behind target.
With temperatures dropping at night and daylight closing in, it’s really into the last week or so of significant growth.
If farm cover is still low at < 900kg DM/ha feed supplement hard for one more week and keep demand low. Cows should be on 12-hour breaks across the board and farmers should continue with on/off grazing, if damage is an issue.
Rotation length should be heading towards 40 days at this stage to ensure there’s enough grass in the final round.
Slurry
Slurry tankers were out in full force over the last week as we approach the deadline next Tuesday. It’s a great chance to get the last of the nutrients for the year out.
Don’t just apply slurry for the sake of getting it out of the tank. Identify those paddocks that are low for P and K and target these with an application first.
Slurry at 6% dry matter, spread using LESS and at a rate of 1,000 gallons/acre is the equivalent to a bag of 9-5-32.
Bloat
There have been some instances of bloat recently where cows were grazing heavy clover paddocks.
Wet grass brings a higher risk. Ensure cows have a fibre source of straw/silage and allocate breakfast breaks when cows are going to fresh clover paddocks.
Last week or two of good growth. If farm cover is below target, keep demand low by feeding supplement to build grass as much as possible while there’s growth there.Extend rotation length out towards 40 days by allocating one-fortieth of the farm per day. Aim for pre-grazing covers <2,000kg DM/ha and residuals of 4cm to improve utilisation.Slurry at 1,000 gallons/acre has a nutrient value of 9-5-32. Use it wisely on paddocks low in P and K.Eoin McCormack – Teagasc Clonakilty, Co Cork
The grass situation is good here at the moment. The growth has remained strong over the last week. Demand is currently at 46kg DM/ha so we’re continuing to build over 20kg a day to the average farm cover.
None of the cull cows have been pulled out yet but we’ll be starting to look at this after the start of October.
The last of the slurry will go out this week. Thankfully we’ve had no issues with bloat in the recent wet weather but we’re always wary. We’ve good people working here who watch cows closely for issues. At this time of year, we avoid cows going out hungry in the heavily clovered paddocks.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.73
Growth (kg/cow) 68
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 951
Yield (l/cow) 16.9
Fat (%) 5.21
Protein (%) 4.29
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.65
Concentrates (kg/cow) 2
Tadgh Eivers – Roristown, Co Meath
The farm has been growing well enough over the last few weeks. We have 200 spring-calvers in milk at the moment. There are 100 autumn-calvers who are due to start calving from the start of October.
We’re highly stocked so building cover is hard. We’re feeding heavily to try to build what we can before growth slows. Each milking cow is getting 3.5kg of meal in the parlour, then 5.5kg of meal, 1.5kg/DM of brewer’s grain and 2kg/DM of silage through the diet feeder.
The cows are going into covers of around 2,000kg DM/ha but are struggling to clean them out with the high feeding rates at the moment.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 3.77
Growth (kg/cow) 51
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 801
Yield (l/cow) 25.2
Fat (%) 4.22
Protein (%) 3.95
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.12
Concentrates (kg/cow) 9
O’Dea farm partnership – Kilteely, Co Limerick
Cover on the farm is good and we have kept stocking rate fairly low and recently took out eight low-yielding animals to help build cover.
These cows are still milking but they have been housed. We have no scan done yet but once that’s done there’ll be another group of cows to go off the platform. We’ve all the slurry out now and the dry ground will continue to get parlour washings after grazing.
There’s about 60% of the farm in good clover at the moment and we’re just managing this by splitting up those paddocks. We’re going into covers around 1700kg/DM/ha and the cows are on close to a 35-day rotation.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.27
Growth (kg/cow) 48
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1021
Yield (l/cow) 17
Fat (%) 5.55
Protein (%) 4.34
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.74
Concentrates (kg/cow) 3
There’s been a reprieve from the heavy rain in the early parts of this week. This has taken a bit of pressure off heavier farms which in some cases had started housing cows or were strongly considering housing.
Growth rates have held around the late 40s and some farms have managed to recover average farm cover to a decent place. In the main though, farms are still behind target.
With temperatures dropping at night and daylight closing in, it’s really into the last week or so of significant growth.
If farm cover is still low at < 900kg DM/ha feed supplement hard for one more week and keep demand low. Cows should be on 12-hour breaks across the board and farmers should continue with on/off grazing, if damage is an issue.
Rotation length should be heading towards 40 days at this stage to ensure there’s enough grass in the final round.
Slurry
Slurry tankers were out in full force over the last week as we approach the deadline next Tuesday. It’s a great chance to get the last of the nutrients for the year out.
Don’t just apply slurry for the sake of getting it out of the tank. Identify those paddocks that are low for P and K and target these with an application first.
Slurry at 6% dry matter, spread using LESS and at a rate of 1,000 gallons/acre is the equivalent to a bag of 9-5-32.
Bloat
There have been some instances of bloat recently where cows were grazing heavy clover paddocks.
Wet grass brings a higher risk. Ensure cows have a fibre source of straw/silage and allocate breakfast breaks when cows are going to fresh clover paddocks.
Last week or two of good growth. If farm cover is below target, keep demand low by feeding supplement to build grass as much as possible while there’s growth there.Extend rotation length out towards 40 days by allocating one-fortieth of the farm per day. Aim for pre-grazing covers <2,000kg DM/ha and residuals of 4cm to improve utilisation.Slurry at 1,000 gallons/acre has a nutrient value of 9-5-32. Use it wisely on paddocks low in P and K.Eoin McCormack – Teagasc Clonakilty, Co Cork
The grass situation is good here at the moment. The growth has remained strong over the last week. Demand is currently at 46kg DM/ha so we’re continuing to build over 20kg a day to the average farm cover.
None of the cull cows have been pulled out yet but we’ll be starting to look at this after the start of October.
The last of the slurry will go out this week. Thankfully we’ve had no issues with bloat in the recent wet weather but we’re always wary. We’ve good people working here who watch cows closely for issues. At this time of year, we avoid cows going out hungry in the heavily clovered paddocks.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.73
Growth (kg/cow) 68
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 951
Yield (l/cow) 16.9
Fat (%) 5.21
Protein (%) 4.29
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.65
Concentrates (kg/cow) 2
Tadgh Eivers – Roristown, Co Meath
The farm has been growing well enough over the last few weeks. We have 200 spring-calvers in milk at the moment. There are 100 autumn-calvers who are due to start calving from the start of October.
We’re highly stocked so building cover is hard. We’re feeding heavily to try to build what we can before growth slows. Each milking cow is getting 3.5kg of meal in the parlour, then 5.5kg of meal, 1.5kg/DM of brewer’s grain and 2kg/DM of silage through the diet feeder.
The cows are going into covers of around 2,000kg DM/ha but are struggling to clean them out with the high feeding rates at the moment.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 3.77
Growth (kg/cow) 51
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 801
Yield (l/cow) 25.2
Fat (%) 4.22
Protein (%) 3.95
Milk solids (kg/cow) 2.12
Concentrates (kg/cow) 9
O’Dea farm partnership – Kilteely, Co Limerick
Cover on the farm is good and we have kept stocking rate fairly low and recently took out eight low-yielding animals to help build cover.
These cows are still milking but they have been housed. We have no scan done yet but once that’s done there’ll be another group of cows to go off the platform. We’ve all the slurry out now and the dry ground will continue to get parlour washings after grazing.
There’s about 60% of the farm in good clover at the moment and we’re just managing this by splitting up those paddocks. We’re going into covers around 1700kg/DM/ha and the cows are on close to a 35-day rotation.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.27
Growth (kg/cow) 48
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1021
Yield (l/cow) 17
Fat (%) 5.55
Protein (%) 4.34
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.74
Concentrates (kg/cow) 3
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