Average grass growth this week is 25kg/day, which is well above the 10-year average for the period. In terms of weather, the country is divided with most of the east and midlands having a relatively dry week, while the west and south got up to 30mm of rain in places.

Ground and grazing conditions on good land are good and this dry spell has really turned around what was a bad autumn. On the other hand, grazing is more or less finished on heavier farms that got rain.

At this stage in the year, decisions about grass all revolve around average farm cover (AFC). You cannot afford to let average farm cover drop too low, but to avoid this, you need discipline to pull the plug, even if grazing conditions are good.

For most farms, the target is to close the farm at an average farm cover of between 600 and 700kg/ha at the end of the month. Depending on the weather and farm location, somewhere between 200kg and 300kg of cover should be added over the winter, meaning the opening cover will be between 800 and 1,000kg/ha.

In layman’s terms, this means enough grass on the farm to keep cows out full-time next spring provided that the weather is agreeable.

A couple of extra days grazing at this time of year will make a big difference to AFC. The difference between growth and demand is how much AFC is being depleted each day.

The good thing is that growth is higher than normal on most farms but after a heavy frost on Wednesday morning, we can expect growth rate to decline sharply from now on, even if soil temperatures are running a degree or two higher than normal.

As for grass covers, I would be slow to carry over a paddock with a cover higher than 1,300kg – if you need to, make sure it’s a dry field and the grass has a clean butt.

  • Average grass growth is very good at 25kg/day.
  • The key figure is average farm cover and it should not fall below 600 or 700kg/ha at end of November.
  • Try not to carry over covers greater than 1,300kg/ha.
  • Shane Leane

    Teagasc Curtins Farm, Cork

    Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.76

    Growth rate (kg/day) 21

    Average farm cover (kg/ha) 809

    Yield (l/cow/day) 12

    Fat % 5.51

    Protein % 4.39

    Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.22

    Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 1

    The weather has been good for the last week, which is making things very easy. We are slightly behind target for average farm cover at 809kg/ha when we should be at 834kg/ha for this week.

    The target closing cover for the medium treatment is 550kg on 24 November. Cows are grazing covers of 1,800kg/ha and clean-out is very good. We will dry off 12% of the herd next week.

    This will be mainly first-calvers and thin cows and any high-SCC cows. None of the empty cows have been sold yet. The SCC is currently 171,000.

    Donal Patton

    Teagasc Ballyhaise, Cavan

    Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.55

    Growth rate (kg/day) 14

    Average farm cover (kg/ha) 629

    Yield (l/cow/day) 11.5

    Fat % 5.17

    Protein % 4.20

    Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.1

    Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

    We are currently grazing our last field so will be in full-time by Friday evening. Ground got a bit sticky over the past few days but overall it’s not too bad.

    With the last paddock grazed, average farm cover will be down around 550kg, which is a bit lower than we’d like but we are closing earlier than normal so it will have a good chance to lift over the coming weeks and should be at 600kg by the end of the month.

    We are feeding 3kg of meal and will stay at this level when housed full-time. We dried off some cows this week and we have the empty cows sold.

    Conor Kelleher

    Aherla, Co Cork

    Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.5

    Growth rate (kg/day) 32

    Average farm cover (kg/ha) 864

    Yield (l/cow/day) 13.7

    Fat % 4.94

    Protein % 4.05

    Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.27

    Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 4.5

    Cows are in at night since last Monday, as I have 95% of the farm grazed and getting close to my closing cover target of 800kg/ha.

    I need to close at this level as I’m highly stocked at 3.5 cows/ha with a high demand in spring so need to open the farm at an average farm cover of 1,000kg to 1,100kg/ha.

    There are only one or two high covers left to graze. I could have stretched the grass out for longer but said I would graze away hard as the weather was good.

    I’m going to milk on until the end of the month and then dry off.

    Philip Donohoe

    Goresbridge, Co Carlow

    Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.71

    Growth rate (kg/day) 21

    Average farm cover (kg/ha) 842

    Yield (l/cow/day) 13

    Fat % 5.90

    Protein % 4.44

    Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.38

    Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 3

    I’m very happy with how things are going. We came in at night for the first time last Friday but should be able to stay out by day until the end of the month.

    My target is to close the farm at an average farm cover of 700kg. We normally grow 5kg/day over the winter so should open at around 1,000kg/ha.

    I sold the empty cows and will start drying off first-lactation and thin cows next week.

    I am targeting 10 weeks dry for mature cows and 12 weeks for first-calvers and thin cows. The average BCS of the herd is 3.15.

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    Clean off fields now while we still can