There has been heavy rainfall across the country in the last week and ground conditions have become more challenging, as soils reach saturation point.
Growth still remained higher than expected however, with above 30kg DM/ha grown in parts. This has left a lot of farms above target farm cover for the time of year according to PastureBase.
The target farm cover for this week will be slightly different on every farm, but it should be somewhere between 600 to 800kg DM/ha.
Farms above 800kg DM/ha now will struggle to reduce cover to the target of 700kg DM/ha on 1 December.
The key in this scenario is to maintain a predominantly grass diet. If cows have to be housed by night, allocate only four to five kilos dry matter of silage to ensure they are going out with a good appetite for grass the next morning.
On/off grazing in three-hour intervals is another good way to keep grass intakes high without damaging paddocks. Use strip wires, spur-roadways and multiple entry/exit points to avoid poaching.
For those farms that are on target, continue to reduce cover gradually over the next three weeks. If closing up in early to mid-November, aim for a cover of 550kg DM/ha at housing.
On drier farms closing up at the end of November, aim to house with a farm cover of 650-700kg DM/ha.
Farms ahead of target with low covers of less than 550kg DM/ha should be looking at housing cows now or supplementing heavily to keep daily demand below growth.
There should be well over 70% of paddocks closed at this stage and the remaining area can be stretched out now, as there will be enough grass back for the spring.
Grazing conditions have become difficult. Use on/off grazing, strip wires and good infrastructure to keep grass in the diet.Limit silage intake at night so cows have an appetite for grazing to reduce damage.Manage average farm cover from now on to meet the target of 700kg DM/ha at 1 December.Target clover paddocks for grazing now before housing so they are carrying low covers over the winter months.Bronwyn Fitzpatrick – Teagasc Ballyhaise, Co Cavan
Cows are still out full-time on grass and 4kg of meal. We had 30mm of rain over the weekend but grazing conditions are still ok.
We’ll aim to close this clover trial with an average farm cover around 500kg DM/ha to give it the best chance for overwinter tillering, so we’ve a bit to go yet. Calving date is later here so we can afford to carry a lower cover into the winter.
The herd are out on 12-hour blocks and we’re using the spur roads and multiple entry/exit points to keep poaching to a minimum, which we’ve been able to do so far. Year-to-date we have 13t DM/ha grown which we’re very happy with.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.1
Growth (kg/ha) 37
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 687
Yield (l/cow) 16.28
Fat (%) 5.08
Protein (%) 4.27
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.57
Concentrates (kg/cow) 4
Noel O’Toole – Killimor, Co Galway
The cows are fully housed since the weekend. We have about 20% of the farm left to graze but the ground conditions got very wet so we’ve pulled them off for the moment.
We’ll try and get the remaining ground grazed off but we won’t risk damaging it too badly either. The last few covers are quite heavy, so it would be difficult to get them well cleaned out.
There’s good grass coming back on anything that was grazed and we’re very happy with the current regrowths. We’ll be looking to start drying off heifers in the next week or so, and some of them will go to outblocks that have grass left on them.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 4.22
Growth (kg/ha) 31
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 738
Yield (l/cow) 12
Fat (%) 5.72
Protein (%) 4.37
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.25
Concentrates (kg/cow) 3
Caroline O’Sullivan – Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork
We’ve the cows in by night since the end of last week after we got heavy rain. They are getting 5kg of silage by night and going out with a good appetite for grass after milking.
We’ve about 75% of the farm grazed and we’ll be looking to stretch out the remaining ground. As long as grazing conditions are still in decent shape we want to keep grass in the diet.
The growth has started to fall this week. Overall, it’s been a tough year for grass production here. The moisture deficits throughout the summer have meant we’ve grown just over 10t DM/ha for the year even with the good back end.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.1
Growth (kg/ha) 18
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 750
Yield (l/cow) 16
Fat (%) 6.07
Protein (%) 4.58
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.76
Concentrates (kg/cow) 4
There has been heavy rainfall across the country in the last week and ground conditions have become more challenging, as soils reach saturation point.
Growth still remained higher than expected however, with above 30kg DM/ha grown in parts. This has left a lot of farms above target farm cover for the time of year according to PastureBase.
The target farm cover for this week will be slightly different on every farm, but it should be somewhere between 600 to 800kg DM/ha.
Farms above 800kg DM/ha now will struggle to reduce cover to the target of 700kg DM/ha on 1 December.
The key in this scenario is to maintain a predominantly grass diet. If cows have to be housed by night, allocate only four to five kilos dry matter of silage to ensure they are going out with a good appetite for grass the next morning.
On/off grazing in three-hour intervals is another good way to keep grass intakes high without damaging paddocks. Use strip wires, spur-roadways and multiple entry/exit points to avoid poaching.
For those farms that are on target, continue to reduce cover gradually over the next three weeks. If closing up in early to mid-November, aim for a cover of 550kg DM/ha at housing.
On drier farms closing up at the end of November, aim to house with a farm cover of 650-700kg DM/ha.
Farms ahead of target with low covers of less than 550kg DM/ha should be looking at housing cows now or supplementing heavily to keep daily demand below growth.
There should be well over 70% of paddocks closed at this stage and the remaining area can be stretched out now, as there will be enough grass back for the spring.
Grazing conditions have become difficult. Use on/off grazing, strip wires and good infrastructure to keep grass in the diet.Limit silage intake at night so cows have an appetite for grazing to reduce damage.Manage average farm cover from now on to meet the target of 700kg DM/ha at 1 December.Target clover paddocks for grazing now before housing so they are carrying low covers over the winter months.Bronwyn Fitzpatrick – Teagasc Ballyhaise, Co Cavan
Cows are still out full-time on grass and 4kg of meal. We had 30mm of rain over the weekend but grazing conditions are still ok.
We’ll aim to close this clover trial with an average farm cover around 500kg DM/ha to give it the best chance for overwinter tillering, so we’ve a bit to go yet. Calving date is later here so we can afford to carry a lower cover into the winter.
The herd are out on 12-hour blocks and we’re using the spur roads and multiple entry/exit points to keep poaching to a minimum, which we’ve been able to do so far. Year-to-date we have 13t DM/ha grown which we’re very happy with.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.1
Growth (kg/ha) 37
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 687
Yield (l/cow) 16.28
Fat (%) 5.08
Protein (%) 4.27
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.57
Concentrates (kg/cow) 4
Noel O’Toole – Killimor, Co Galway
The cows are fully housed since the weekend. We have about 20% of the farm left to graze but the ground conditions got very wet so we’ve pulled them off for the moment.
We’ll try and get the remaining ground grazed off but we won’t risk damaging it too badly either. The last few covers are quite heavy, so it would be difficult to get them well cleaned out.
There’s good grass coming back on anything that was grazed and we’re very happy with the current regrowths. We’ll be looking to start drying off heifers in the next week or so, and some of them will go to outblocks that have grass left on them.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 4.22
Growth (kg/ha) 31
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 738
Yield (l/cow) 12
Fat (%) 5.72
Protein (%) 4.37
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.25
Concentrates (kg/cow) 3
Caroline O’Sullivan – Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork
We’ve the cows in by night since the end of last week after we got heavy rain. They are getting 5kg of silage by night and going out with a good appetite for grass after milking.
We’ve about 75% of the farm grazed and we’ll be looking to stretch out the remaining ground. As long as grazing conditions are still in decent shape we want to keep grass in the diet.
The growth has started to fall this week. Overall, it’s been a tough year for grass production here. The moisture deficits throughout the summer have meant we’ve grown just over 10t DM/ha for the year even with the good back end.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.1
Growth (kg/ha) 18
Average farm cover (kg/ha) 750
Yield (l/cow) 16
Fat (%) 6.07
Protein (%) 4.58
Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.76
Concentrates (kg/cow) 4
SHARING OPTIONS