Growth was up last week, with the country averaging 62kg/day. The welcome break in the weather looks set to continue over the weekend. This gives a great opportunity to focus on graze-outs on farm. The main objective is still building grass at the moment.
The target now is to be at your peak cover (AFC of 950 to 1,200kg/ha) over the next week or two and then the attention will turn to closing up.
Anyone behind target should take advantage of the high growth and increase supplementation and restrict grass allocations to get back on track. Feeding in a period of high growth will help you build grass in a short period.
Paddocks that were poorly grazed out in the wet spell in August should also be targeted now while conditions allow. Going back to these at lower covers will also give you a much better chance to correct grass quality.
Heavy soil and land subject to flooding should be grazed off now while conditions allow and target going back into graze these once they reach 800 to 1,000kg cover if the opportunity arises in October.
The time is now up for nitrogen and phosphorus fertiliser application. However, slurry can be spread for the next month and will offer an extra boost of nutrients to the ground and help keep covers green over the winter.
The dry conditions experienced at the moment are also giving farmers a great chance to get lime out where required. Getting the soil pH status right on farm is the best way to ensure you are getting the best response from your fertiliser and to ensure that the P and K in the soil becomes available to the plant.
Growth was up last week, with the country averaging 62kg/day. The welcome break in the weather looks set to continue over the weekend. This gives a great opportunity to focus on graze-outs on farm. The main objective is still building grass at the moment.
The target now is to be at your peak cover (AFC of 950 to 1,200kg/ha) over the next week or two and then the attention will turn to closing up.
Anyone behind target should take advantage of the high growth and increase supplementation and restrict grass allocations to get back on track. Feeding in a period of high growth will help you build grass in a short period.
Paddocks that were poorly grazed out in the wet spell in August should also be targeted now while conditions allow. Going back to these at lower covers will also give you a much better chance to correct grass quality.
Heavy soil and land subject to flooding should be grazed off now while conditions allow and target going back into graze these once they reach 800 to 1,000kg cover if the opportunity arises in October.
The time is now up for nitrogen and phosphorus fertiliser application. However, slurry can be spread for the next month and will offer an extra boost of nutrients to the ground and help keep covers green over the winter.
The dry conditions experienced at the moment are also giving farmers a great chance to get lime out where required. Getting the soil pH status right on farm is the best way to ensure you are getting the best response from your fertiliser and to ensure that the P and K in the soil becomes available to the plant.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: