Grazing: On page 33, we highlight some of the grazing advantages many farmers have so far this spring. Rainfall levels in December, January and so far in February are well below normal and, generally speaking, ground is drier than normal.
I know this isn’t the case everywhere and wet land is still wet and will be for a long time to come. Many of these heavier soils are being fed from beneath due to the high water table, so unfortunately the weather overhead doesn’t give as much benefit. But on free-draining land that is impacted by the weather, ground is much drier than normal.
The forecast is for heavier rainfall over the coming week, so I’m not sure for how much longer the good conditions will last.
The message from the Tirlán/Teagasc farm walk last week was clear: if you want high yields you must get some grass into the diet. It’s not just about cost, it’s about high yields too.
The dairy co-ops need more milk and they’ve clearly identified that getting more grass in the diet is the way for that to happen. For those on heavier land where grazing is not possible, feed the best-quality silage available and 5kg or 6kg of meal until such a time that conditions allow some grass in the diet.
Be careful if feeding maize or beet as this is low in protein, so if either are being fed for more than a few days, then a high-protein nut (+20%) will be required to balance the diet for protein.
Allocations: Getting grass allocations correct at this time of year is very difficult and always involves a bit of guesswork and trial and error.
The number of cows going out to grass should be known, but we need to guess how much grass they’ll eat and also how much grass is in the field.
In general, freshly calved cows getting 3kg or 4kg of meal per day are likely to be eating 10 or 11kg of grass in the day, so 5kg or 6kg DM per grazing.
Grass covers are probably deceiving this year and I would think there is more grass there than people realise. Cows are getting longer out of areas than expected, which does suggest that there is more grass in the area.
Dry matter (DM) in Moorepark was 20% and it was 22% in Oak Park this week. If conditions turn wet that will reduce a bit, but not by a huge amount. The following method works well when cow numbers are changing regularly:
Work out how many cows are grazing and how much grass they are eating in the 12-hour break, for example 30 cows eating 5kg is a total demand of 150kg DM. Divide the grass cover into 10,000 to get the number of square metres (m2) needed for 1kg DM. For example, a cover of 1,200kg into 10,000 is 8.33m2 per kg of DM. Multiply this number by the total demand to work out the total allocation. So in this case, 8.33 multiplied by 150kg is 1,249m2. This is how much area you need to give the cows. To work out where to put the fence, measure the width of the paddock and then divide this into 1,249. For example, if the paddock is 45m wide, the strip wire should be placed 28m back.
Grazing: On page 33, we highlight some of the grazing advantages many farmers have so far this spring. Rainfall levels in December, January and so far in February are well below normal and, generally speaking, ground is drier than normal.
I know this isn’t the case everywhere and wet land is still wet and will be for a long time to come. Many of these heavier soils are being fed from beneath due to the high water table, so unfortunately the weather overhead doesn’t give as much benefit. But on free-draining land that is impacted by the weather, ground is much drier than normal.
The forecast is for heavier rainfall over the coming week, so I’m not sure for how much longer the good conditions will last.
The message from the Tirlán/Teagasc farm walk last week was clear: if you want high yields you must get some grass into the diet. It’s not just about cost, it’s about high yields too.
The dairy co-ops need more milk and they’ve clearly identified that getting more grass in the diet is the way for that to happen. For those on heavier land where grazing is not possible, feed the best-quality silage available and 5kg or 6kg of meal until such a time that conditions allow some grass in the diet.
Be careful if feeding maize or beet as this is low in protein, so if either are being fed for more than a few days, then a high-protein nut (+20%) will be required to balance the diet for protein.
Allocations: Getting grass allocations correct at this time of year is very difficult and always involves a bit of guesswork and trial and error.
The number of cows going out to grass should be known, but we need to guess how much grass they’ll eat and also how much grass is in the field.
In general, freshly calved cows getting 3kg or 4kg of meal per day are likely to be eating 10 or 11kg of grass in the day, so 5kg or 6kg DM per grazing.
Grass covers are probably deceiving this year and I would think there is more grass there than people realise. Cows are getting longer out of areas than expected, which does suggest that there is more grass in the area.
Dry matter (DM) in Moorepark was 20% and it was 22% in Oak Park this week. If conditions turn wet that will reduce a bit, but not by a huge amount. The following method works well when cow numbers are changing regularly:
Work out how many cows are grazing and how much grass they are eating in the 12-hour break, for example 30 cows eating 5kg is a total demand of 150kg DM. Divide the grass cover into 10,000 to get the number of square metres (m2) needed for 1kg DM. For example, a cover of 1,200kg into 10,000 is 8.33m2 per kg of DM. Multiply this number by the total demand to work out the total allocation. So in this case, 8.33 multiplied by 150kg is 1,249m2. This is how much area you need to give the cows. To work out where to put the fence, measure the width of the paddock and then divide this into 1,249. For example, if the paddock is 45m wide, the strip wire should be placed 28m back. 
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