Dry farms had really been struggling to hold cover never mind to build it over the last few weeks, but the much needed rainfall that we have had and will continue to have should see these farms push on with growth.

With many of these farms having held off on fertiliser due to the dry conditions, it's an ideal time to get the last round of fertiliser out now that ground has softened.

Be mindful of fertiliser allowances with this last round, and if in any doubt, contact your advisor regarding your fertiliser allowance. It is also worth noting that any unprotected urea left sitting in the yard should be used and not carried over in to spring, as a ban on unprotected urea usage comes in to affect from 15 September 2025.

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If grass is very tight, then offering concentrates at grass to forward store cattle should be explored. If these cattle have to be housed in the next few weeks, offering concentrates at grass will mean that once housed, the change in diet will not be drastic and cattle should push on well and finish easily.

With high weanling prices and the beef welfare scheme, many farmers are also feeding weanlings at grass which will also help to reduce demand.

While there is no required amount set out by the Department, the recommendation is for 1kg/head/day be fed prior to weaning.

This can be increased if necessary and will likely see a good return on interest, with shippers targeting calves with good weight for age.

Jack Spillane – Tipperary Calf farm, Co Tipperary

Grass growth was very tight and we housed 170 of the store cattle to reduce demand. They are on silage and 4kg of ration/day, with a target finishing period of 60-80 days.

Our demand probably won’t rise above its current level as we will be drafting cattle off grass for slaughter, which will match in with increased weanling intakes.

We will be spreading the final round of fertiliser this week, with a bag/acre of 29-0-14+ S going across the grazing platform.

We will look to build our farm cover up to 1,000kg DM/ha by mid-October, as we can usually graze weanlings up until late November/early December. We have 14 acres of Westerwolds also sown which will be grazed late in the year.

System Dairy calf to beef

Soil Type Free draining

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 672

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 19

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 27

William Treacy – Hackballscross, Co Louth

Growth took a fairly drastic dip of late, but with some soft rain early in the week and some more prolonged showers we should see it recover.

We did end up grazing some third cut ground, but in reality this had only been spread for grazing anyway. This is being grazed with a strip wire.

We gave eight paddocks their last application of fertiliser at 30 units/acre, and we will be following cattle for the next two weeks.

We have a portion of cattle housed for finishing, mainly suckler bred bulls and cull cows, with some dairy beef bulls to be housed for finishing this week.

Spring calving cows were scanned this week. Empty cows will be weaned early and housed for finishing.

System Suckler to beef

Soil Type Variable

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 961

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 24

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 61

Mark Maxwell – Ballinagore, Co Westmeath

Growth did fall as ground got very dry, but it should increase now with the rain this week. We were struggling with grass on some blocks, with spring calvers moved off a block to give preferential treatment to autumn calving cows.

More of our own beef cattle were drafted for slaughter this week, which should also help to reduce demand. We will spread 30 units of nitrogen/acre towards the weekend now with ground softening, with no fertiliser spread the last three weeks.

The stitched ground, which was mown, given one run of the disc and a run of the single pass came up well but struggled a little with the lack of moisture, but this should push on now with the rainfall.

System Suckler to beef

Soil Type Variable

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 893

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 53

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 55