Growth rates recorded for the last week continue to show the rain-deprived areas have growth rates of between 30 and 40kg/day. The reality is that the widespread rain that arrived Friday and Saturday means these farms are now growing well over 50kg per day this week which we will see clearer in next week’s map.

We can see exceptional growth rates continue in the north, midlands and west with close to 100kg per day growth on many farms.

So what’s the impact on management? In the drought-stressed southern and northern farms, most farmers are still only filling the farm up with grass. Meal supplementation continues for many. If doing this, farmers must be very careful that they don’t start wasting grass, so many have started putting up the strip wire to guarantee grazings per paddock. Essentially they are allocating less grass so that the cows just don’t waste grass.

In the north midlands and west, farmers are taking out bales when the weather allows. They are also using a strip wire as covers are ahead of where they should be for the time of the year. As Barry Reilly in Ballyhaise explained, they skipped over a paddock and will cut it today or tomorrow. Why? because if they left it in for grazing the cover per cow would be 320kg/cow and he suggests that’s too high for late August. It’s the furthest paddock from the parlour so it worked to take it out.

Ideally, he would like the rain to stop now as he has quality grass across the farm so if the weather worked in his favour he could have a very good September at grass. His target is to aim for around 1,000kg farm cover in early September. His growth rate is over 80kg per day at the moment.

  • Growth rates have improved across the country. Dry farms are improving while the farms not drought-stressed continue to grow well.
  • On dry farms maximising growth, keep nitrogen out after grazing.
  • Strip wires are up on all farms – those looking to maximise growth and those looking to improve utilisation when grazing heavy covers.
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