Grass growth on the BETTER farms was 60kg DM/ha/day this week. The figure has dipped for the second week in a row, in line with the changeable weather conditions. However, the vast majority of farmers are reporting growth still well in excess of daily grass demand. Many are bemoaning the fact that they’ve skipped paddocks but cannot get in to cut and bale given the rain.

Unfortunately the forecast into this weekend remains a mixed bag. Where skipped paddocks have begun to go to seed, quality will inevitably be suffering. Swards not yet heading out will be holding their quality better.

Poorly preserved silage is one of the most expensive feeds out there and when taking out surplus the principles of good silage-making should be adhered to where possible. Cutting and lifting grass in one day is not the end of the world, provided the crop is relatively dry when the mower moves in. Delay cutting until the afternoon if possible, which will ensure that dew has completely lifted, as well as giving the plant time to accumulate sugars. Sunlight drives plant sugar production and if the concentration is less than 2.5%, there may be issues with potential preservation. There are additives available that can aid with preservation, but before investing in any products ask your adviser to measure your sward’s sugar concentration. It takes seconds and is an extremely worthwhile exercise.

Thoughts now turn to the main second cut of silage. It’s important that we get silage out and have the ground back producing for us again before growth begins to drop off. Second-cut silage should get 80 units of N no sooner than six weeks prior to cutting. Sulphur should also go out at a rate of 15-20 units on silage ground. There is no soil test for sulphur; instead a deficiency is diagnosed from the plant’s appearance. Leaves with a dull light-green colour and/or yellow tips indicate a sulphur-hungry crop. Alternatively, apply Sulpha CAN to a small area and look for a difference in grass yield and colour between here and an area that got solely CAN.

Heinz Eggert

Co Kildare

Growth rate 85kg DM/ha/day

Average farm cover 899kg DM/ha

While the weather around here has become variable, the conditions still lend themselves to high rates of grass growth and I recorded growth of 85kg DM/ha for this week. This is almost double my daily demand (48kg DM/ha). We’ve been very active in removing surplus to try and keep grass quality good under the stock. Ten acres have come out so far this grazing season and the plan is to take ten more when I get a long-enough window of good weather.

Breeding season will come to an end this week. The bulls will come out next week and I haven’t seen much activity in recent days. I keep the breeding season quite tight here. Bulls go to the heifers in the last week of April and to cows the following week. I will scan everything in early August and anything not pregnant will go for culling. There is no room for passengers here.

Marty Lenehan

Co Sligo

Growth rate: -

Average farm cover -

My autumn-calvers are just weeks from calving and their condition needs to be kept under control. If they go over-fat now there’s a risk of hard calvings, poor performance post-calving and fertility issues. I’ll run them on bare paddocks in the coming weeks. Having a split herd adds a different dimension to grassland management – my autumn calvers become toppers when growth takes off. That said, I’ve still taken 100 bales of surplus so far and plan to take another 20 soon. I remove surplus bales as early as I can to ensure their quality is good – these bales are a big asset to me.

I need to keep autumn calvers on a good plane of nutrition when indoors and my surplus bales are often in the high 70s for DMD. However, I’m not sure when I’ll get to make bales from the paddocks I’ve skipped at the moment as the weather is very unsettled.

In addition, one of my out farms is extremely heavy and won’t be long becoming saturated if this spell of rain continues.

Adam Woods

Derrypatrick Herd

Growth rate 80kg DM/ha

Average farm cover 712kg DM/ha

We grew 80kg DM/day in Derrypatrick over the past seven days. Demand is currently 58kg DM/day so we are still growing in excess of our demand.

Our average farm cover is 712kg DM/ha and we have 12 days’ grass ahead of stock. Our current stocking rate is 4.24 LU/ha. Bulls went out last week to clean up after seven weeks of AI and will stay with cows for the next four weeks. We are due to scan on Friday to make sure there are no issues around conception rate. Cows are still being tail-painted and heats are being recorded. Calves were weighed last week and our male calves are gaining 1.26kg/day while our female calves are gaining 1.13kg/day. Our steers are gaining 1kg/day while our yearling heifers are gaining 1.1kg/day. We have 18 of our under-16-months bulls killed, with six left to kill.

Preparations are in full swing for our national open day next Tuesday 5 July in Grange. Derrypatrick stock will be on display on the day along with full production data on the herd.

Mike Dillane

Co Kerry

Growth rate -

Average farm cover -

Grass is under control at the moment. I took out 15 acres of surplus with my first cut a month ago and have 30 acres of a second cut due to cut in a month’s time. First-cut yields were good at 10 bales per acre. I’ll aim for something similar or lower with the second cut. While it’s important to get good yields, autumn-calving cows need to be getting quality during the winter to drive calf performance.

Weaning will begin in the coming weeks. I wean around 20 calves at a time, indoors over a week. I separate calves and cows initially into adjacent pens and let calves in to suckle every day-or-two. All the while calves have access to silage and meal. Doing it this way puts less stress on man and beast.

I’ve seen 10 cents taken from my beef price in the space of five days with the Brexit. I can’t help but feel that the factories were very quick to pull the price at a time when we’re being told that cattle are scarce.