The fodder story this week is a real tale of two halves. Half of the country got twice the normal rainfall, while the other half got less than half the normal amount of rain. Farmers in some places are making silage from surplus grass, while the others are feeding silage to supplement grass. Those that need the rain most are the ones that are not getting it.
Farmers that have got the rain need to maximise growth over the next few weeks by continuing to spread fertiliser. Even if they have enough or close to enough silage for themselves, they should continue to grow as much grass as possible to make silage. This year, silage will be a cash crop and there will be a ready market for round bales in the south and east. Farms that are growing well should be on a 25 to 26 day round length and skip over paddocks as soon as pre-grazing yields get too high. Continue to spread 25 to 30 units/acre of nitrogen after grazing to maximise growth. Watch for high nitrate levels in grass when making silage. Get grass tested prior to cutting and if high, leave the grass to wilt and get it tedded. Don’t delay the cutting date.
In dry areas, recently emerged grass and fodder crop seeds are under pressure. They need moisture to germinate and grow. It’s worse if they germinate and then don’t get moisture.
Seeds in the ground are more resilient than seedlings.
Jack Kearney's field stopped for silage is suffering from lack of rain Photo: Donal O' Leary
Third cut silage
Growth has taken a dip on the Kearney farm this week. Jack has noticed a deterioration on some of the fields closed up for third cut as they are lacking moisture. Drier fields are beginning to wilt but heavier fields are continuing to grow well. The rain that was promised over the weekend failed to materialise but Jack isn’t overly worried once they get rain within a week. He spread 1.5 bags/acre of 20:0:15 last week so the silage fields have got between 65 and 70 units of nitrogen. The plan is to cut at the end of September.
Tullamore Farm, Co Offaly:
Redstart hybrid rape/kale at Tullamore Farm
Fodder crop on livestock farm
The crop of Redstart and Interval is looking good so far. The farm has been getting good showers of rain all week to keep the grass growing and give the fodder rape a good start. Farm manager, Shaun Diver, hasn’t touched it in the past week. He expects that the crop will out-grow the weeds so weed control won’t be necessary. To recap, this crop was sown on 8 August. Shaun is going to leave 50 round bales out on the field whenever he gets to cut some paddocks for bales.
Buying third cut silage
Grass is flying it on this farm near Mullingar. Over 20mm of rain fell in the past week and soil temperatures are 17 degrees Celsius. The fertiliser that was spread the weekend before last is really kicking in. This is a 23 acre field that has been bought by a farmer in Kilkenny. It is surplus to the landowner’s requirement and all costs will be incurred by the farmer taking the silage. There is a cover of around 1,200kg on the field today.
John Stokes' field of Westerwolds at Doneraile could do with rain. Photo: Donal O' Leary
Growing grass on a tillage farm
The lack of rain in north Cork has stopped John from going out with nitrogen on his crop of Westerwolds in the past week. The crop is maintaining growth well despite there having been only 2 mm of rain over the last ten days. The plan is to spread Nitrogen this week at 60kg/ha or 1.75 bags per acre of 27.5% Nitrogen. Picking stones finished up last week and John is happy with the way the crop is progressing.
Michael O’Brien's redstart hybrid fodder rape was sprayed last week to control the winter barley volunteers
Growing a fodder crop on a tillage farm
Michael O’Brien sprayed his 30 acres of Redstart hybrid fodder rape last week with Stratos Ultra (1.0l/ha).The fodder crop was sown early after winter barley. As the field was disked first and with good growing conditions, barley volunteers soon germinated and are concentrated where straw swards lay. The cycloxydim active controls grassweeds in oilseed crops, but appears to have knocked the hybrid rape variety slightly.
John Doyle's field at Bunclody is growing 70kg/day. \ Patrick Browne
Spreading more fertiliser on a livestock farm
John Doyle has noticed a big burst in growth since spreading the fertiliser in late July. The farm is currently growing 2cm/week (72kg/day). Some of the lambs are gone a bit loose so he has decided to hold off on spreading any more fertiliser for the moment as he reckons there is enough in the soil. However, he did spread a half bag/acre of 18:6:12 on 20 acres of a dry hilly land where there are cows and dry ewes grazing. John has got very little rain in the past week and says that land is beginning to dry out again.
The fodder story this week is a real tale of two halves. Half of the country got twice the normal rainfall, while the other half got less than half the normal amount of rain. Farmers in some places are making silage from surplus grass, while the others are feeding silage to supplement grass. Those that need the rain most are the ones that are not getting it.
Farmers that have got the rain need to maximise growth over the next few weeks by continuing to spread fertiliser. Even if they have enough or close to enough silage for themselves, they should continue to grow as much grass as possible to make silage. This year, silage will be a cash crop and there will be a ready market for round bales in the south and east. Farms that are growing well should be on a 25 to 26 day round length and skip over paddocks as soon as pre-grazing yields get too high. Continue to spread 25 to 30 units/acre of nitrogen after grazing to maximise growth. Watch for high nitrate levels in grass when making silage. Get grass tested prior to cutting and if high, leave the grass to wilt and get it tedded. Don’t delay the cutting date.
In dry areas, recently emerged grass and fodder crop seeds are under pressure. They need moisture to germinate and grow. It’s worse if they germinate and then don’t get moisture.
Seeds in the ground are more resilient than seedlings.
Jack Kearney's field stopped for silage is suffering from lack of rain Photo: Donal O' Leary
Third cut silage
Growth has taken a dip on the Kearney farm this week. Jack has noticed a deterioration on some of the fields closed up for third cut as they are lacking moisture. Drier fields are beginning to wilt but heavier fields are continuing to grow well. The rain that was promised over the weekend failed to materialise but Jack isn’t overly worried once they get rain within a week. He spread 1.5 bags/acre of 20:0:15 last week so the silage fields have got between 65 and 70 units of nitrogen. The plan is to cut at the end of September.
Tullamore Farm, Co Offaly:
Redstart hybrid rape/kale at Tullamore Farm
Fodder crop on livestock farm
The crop of Redstart and Interval is looking good so far. The farm has been getting good showers of rain all week to keep the grass growing and give the fodder rape a good start. Farm manager, Shaun Diver, hasn’t touched it in the past week. He expects that the crop will out-grow the weeds so weed control won’t be necessary. To recap, this crop was sown on 8 August. Shaun is going to leave 50 round bales out on the field whenever he gets to cut some paddocks for bales.
Buying third cut silage
Grass is flying it on this farm near Mullingar. Over 20mm of rain fell in the past week and soil temperatures are 17 degrees Celsius. The fertiliser that was spread the weekend before last is really kicking in. This is a 23 acre field that has been bought by a farmer in Kilkenny. It is surplus to the landowner’s requirement and all costs will be incurred by the farmer taking the silage. There is a cover of around 1,200kg on the field today.
John Stokes' field of Westerwolds at Doneraile could do with rain. Photo: Donal O' Leary
Growing grass on a tillage farm
The lack of rain in north Cork has stopped John from going out with nitrogen on his crop of Westerwolds in the past week. The crop is maintaining growth well despite there having been only 2 mm of rain over the last ten days. The plan is to spread Nitrogen this week at 60kg/ha or 1.75 bags per acre of 27.5% Nitrogen. Picking stones finished up last week and John is happy with the way the crop is progressing.
Michael O’Brien's redstart hybrid fodder rape was sprayed last week to control the winter barley volunteers
Growing a fodder crop on a tillage farm
Michael O’Brien sprayed his 30 acres of Redstart hybrid fodder rape last week with Stratos Ultra (1.0l/ha).The fodder crop was sown early after winter barley. As the field was disked first and with good growing conditions, barley volunteers soon germinated and are concentrated where straw swards lay. The cycloxydim active controls grassweeds in oilseed crops, but appears to have knocked the hybrid rape variety slightly.
John Doyle's field at Bunclody is growing 70kg/day. \ Patrick Browne
Spreading more fertiliser on a livestock farm
John Doyle has noticed a big burst in growth since spreading the fertiliser in late July. The farm is currently growing 2cm/week (72kg/day). Some of the lambs are gone a bit loose so he has decided to hold off on spreading any more fertiliser for the moment as he reckons there is enough in the soil. However, he did spread a half bag/acre of 18:6:12 on 20 acres of a dry hilly land where there are cows and dry ewes grazing. John has got very little rain in the past week and says that land is beginning to dry out again.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: