Grass+: time to plan for closing up the grazing block

The plan to date was to build up grass to stretch out the grazing season. Ultimately, this will lead to increased production from the cheapest feed source available on farms – grass. Teagasc has quantified this as having a financial benefit of €1.80/cow for every extra day you get at grass in the autumn. So the temptation may be there for some people to keep grazing until the grass is gone, maximising the amount of grass in the diet this autumn.

However, every extra day at grass in the spring will also have a financial benefit, with Teagasc putting this figure at €2.70/cow/day. So it is more profitable to have cows at grass in the spring than in the autumn. Obviously we want to maximise grazing if we can but the main focus needs to be on having grass for spring 2020.

This is where putting a plan in place now is so important to ensure that you close up the farm with grass for the spring.

So what are the targets? We have built to an average farm cover of 1,000kg to 1,200kg on most farms. The plan now is to end up on 1 December with an AFC of 550-700kg depending on stocking rate and land type. Low stocking rates and heavy soils should be near to 550kg on 1 December. Highly stocked farms at 3LU/ha and higher should be close to 700kg on 1 December.

The grass budget feature on the PastureBase software available to farmers is the best way to ensure you reach these targets. The grass budget allows you to see what your AFC will be week by week and give you a predicted closing cover for 1 December. This gives you the ability to plan when silage may need to be introduced, concentrates increased or cows housed by night or even altogether.

For farmers not actively measuring, the best way to ensure grass will be available for the spring is to follow an autumn 60:40 planner, which I will cover next week.