High growth rates still being recorded on a lot of farms and the challenge is to maintain grass quality and keep pre-grazing yields close to 1,400kg/ha.

As we head into the second half of May, grass moves into its reproductive phase and once the grass plant grows past the three-leaf stage it will go to seed.

This process changes the makeup of the feed available as the plant produces a thick stem to support the seed head. This stem is high in fibre and a lot less digestible compared to the leaf. Production will be affected very quickly if animals graze grass at this stage. The grass also becomes a lot less palatable and it is much more difficult to achieve good graze-outs.

To avoid this, it’s important to graze grass at the three-leaf stage. Given that a perennial ryegrass plant produces a new leaf every seven days, you need cattle to be on a 21-day rotation or less.

On the other hand, some parts of the country are seing a reduction in grass growth due to a slight moisture deficit. Once the deficit is greater than 25mm to 30mm, it will negatively affect growth rates and parts of the country are now sitting at a deficit of 38mm to 45mm, with very little rain forecasted for the next week.

A proactive approach should be taken by farmers seing the effects of this. The first thing to ensure is that demand doesn’t exceed growth. If so, you need to increase supplementation or reduce your stocking rate by bringing back in a paddock intended for silage.

Fergal Coughlan

Clonakilty Ag College, Co Cork

Cows on grass clover trial are only getting 150kg N in the year. There is one paddock skipped for bales but not cut yet as we may need to graze it. We are currently on a 19-day rotation to maintain pre-grazing yields at 1,400kg/ha ahead of cows. Grazing these covers with the good clover content we have ensured high milk production off of minimum inputs. Breeding is going well with 82% (163 out of 199) of the cows served in the first 17 days and all the heifers being served to date. We are following the cows with 10 units of N/acre in the form of protected urea with sulphur.

Jack Keenan

Aughrim, Co Wicklow

Growth has slowed down over the last few weeks. Pre-grazing yields are at 1,200-1,300kg and I can only see them getting lower. I will drop the stocking rate back to 3.3LU/ha this week as silage ground comes back in and maiden heifers that were home for breeding are moved away from the milking block, reducing demand a lot. I will walk the farm again in five days’ time and if the cover/cow is still dropping, I will go with high-quality surplus bales. Silage was cut on Wednesday yielding 7.9t/ha. We cut silage this time last year as well and got excellent quality with DMD over 80%.

Barry Reilly

Teagasc Ballyhaise, Co Cavan

Grass is going well here. I’m happy to hold cover/LU at 192kg as growth may slow with the lack of moisture and a lot of after-grass coming in which cows will fly through. We are eight days into breeding with 40% of the herd bred. We are using sexed semen this year so started AI a week earlier than normal. Twenty heifers and 40 cows got sexed semen straws. We selected cows that where calved over 60 days so on the second heat that scanned clean. We will do four weeks of dairy AI here. First-cut silage was taken on Wednesday and paddocks will get 2,500gals of thick slurry by dribble bar.