Grass growth is still slightly behind the average for this time of year. Temperatures this week have been about two degrees less than the norm and with the cold nights lately, there was little or no increase in growth rates. Average growth rate was 67kg/day.

A rise in temperatures is expected into next week. This should see a rise in growth rates and get farmers feeling the pinch back on track.

Silage season is under way, with a lot of farmers taking advantage of the sunny conditions of the bank holiday weekend. A number of farmers also took the opportunity to take off surplus bales. Every time surplus bales are taken off a paddock, we are removing 10 times the potash than what would be removed in a grazing situation. So for every four bales/acre taken off, you need to target spreading a 1000gallons/ac of thick slurry to replace the P’s and K’s that are being removed. You are talking double that for watery slurry.

Grassland weeds are a big problem in some swards after last year’s drought. Herbicide uptake by plants is much quicker when applied during times of high growth. With mild conditions forecast for the weekend this may be a good opportunity to get out and spray fields. However, don’t spray if weeds have already produced seed heads. Ideally, top or graze them and spray the re-growths.