Showers have returned this week. Many farmers got silage cut over the weekend but some were not able to because contractors were booked out.

Thursday looks set to be a dry day and there may be a window of opportunity for farmers to get silage cut. Mild showery weather is forecast for the weekend which should really push on growth rates and more paddocks may have to be earmarked for silage if covers get too strong and quality is compromised.

Farmers are still pre-mowing and topping paddocks to ensure a good leafy regrowth in the next rotation. Once the correct pre-grazing yield is reached, it will be easier to achieve ideal post grazing height of 4-4.5cm.

When paddocks are poorly grazed during the previous rotations, they should not be expected to graze tighter in the following rotations, as high levels of milk yield will not be maintained. Try to ensure badly-grazed swards are taken out as baled silage in the next rotation or are topped.

Southwest Wexford average farm cover of 540kg/ha. His cover per cow is 150kg and his growth rate is 74kg. Cows are milking 27kg at 3.5% protein, 4.04% fat (2.04 MS/cow). The milk solids haven’t dropped below two since March.

He mowed another surplus paddock yesterday (Wednesday) and has put paddocks back into the rotation that were cut for pit silage last week. This has brought stocking rate back to 3.6 LU/ha.

Our man in south Tipperary has a growth rate of 72kg/ha and a demand of 73kg/ha this week. His stocking rate is still high at 4.6 LU/ha. He is finding paddocks that were cut for silage or topped are slow coming back. Cows are milking 22.2kg at 3.42% protein and 4.11% fat (1.67kg MS/kg).

West Clare grew 60kg/ha during the week. The cover per cow is 211kg. Cows are milking 24.6 litres at 3.39% protein, 3.94% fat and he is feeding 2kg concentrates. He is beginning to get on top of grass, with surpluses taken out, and he is pre-mowing paddocks. He is not looking for too much rain.

Southwest Cork got six acres cut and baled at the weekend. He also got another 20 acres into the pit. Growth was 74kg/ha during the week. He thought it would be higher with the warm weather, but still finds he has plenty of grass. He is planning on cutting another 20 acres in a few days’ time, weather permitting.

Mid-Kerry has an average farm cover of 877kg/ha and a growth rate of 67kg/ha/day. Demand is at 70.3kg and cover per cow is 186kg/ha. He is stocked at 4.6 LU/ha and his pre grazing yield is 1445kg/ha. Milk solids are 1.7kg and he is feeding 1.2kg concentrates. He is spreading 45 units of Sulpha Can after cows.

STEVEN FITZGERALD, farm manager, TEAGASC CURTIN’S RESEARCH FARM

We have 80% of the silage ground cut and 75% of our winter feed requirement. We will cut the remaining silage today (Wednesday) and tomorrow.

Once we get that silage cut we will just use excess paddocks for silage to make up the remainder for the winter.

The average farm cover is 769kg/ha and cover per cow is 159kg. Stocking rate is still high at 4.83 LU/ha, but this will come down when the silage ground is added in next week.

We are following cows with 20 units of SulphaCan and silage ground is getting 2,500 gallons of slurry.

We are scanning cows this week and only the odd repeats are coming. We are topping up tail painting every second day. Cows are milking 22.8 litres at 3.49% protein, 4.23% fat (1.81 MS/kg) and SCC 131.

Shane Fitzgerald, Ballynoe, Fermoy, Co Cork

We grew 90kg per day of grass over the past week and expect to be growing over 100kg into the weekend.

We had thunder and lightning last night and there is more rain forecast for the weekend which should really push on growth.

Cows are entering nice covers of 1,300kg/ha and at the moment stocking rate is 4.47 LU/ha. Stocking rate is high presently because we are taking some excess paddocks out for silage, but in general we are not heavily stocked.

We plan on increasing herd size by 10% every year starting next year.

This year one third of the herd were first time calvers. We pulled out meal at the weekend.

A few years ago I had an issue with P and K deficiencies, but have corrected this over the years by spreading more compound fertilizers.

I tested the grass last week and it was fine for P and K.

Breeding is going well, with a 96% submission rate in 21 days. Cows are in good order and there don’t seem to be too many repeats coming. I am following cows with 20 units of SulphaCan.

Barry O’Gorman, Thurles,

Co Tipperary

We made 170 bales of silage on Saturday. We cut another three hectares on Monday for silage, but the heavens opened and we couldn’t bale it. There is dry weather forecast for tomorrow (Thursday) so we will get it baled then.

Cows are entering paddocks of 1,600-1,700kg and are stocked at 4 LU/ha. Cows are followed with nitrogen once a week and watery slurry will be spread on silage ground.

Because of quota, we are on once-a-day milking. Cows are milking 16.25 litres at 3.57% protein, 4% fat and SCC 121.

We aren’t feeding any meal and are adding a liquid mineral to the water. This liquid mineral has phosphorus which combats a defecncy on the farm.

Breeding is going well. We had a 98% submission rate after 21 days. We use heat patches and are very happy with the results.

We use a spray-on glue for the cows and a pour-on glue for the heifers because they try to pull them off.

Friesian straws are used for 15 days and Angus is used after that. We hold on to the calves until they are a year and a half and sell them as stores.

Our plan for expansion is to focus on the cows we have rather than increasing numbers.

Brendan McGarry, Lusma,

Co Offaly

We are spreading 30 units a month of Sulpha Can, following cows every two to three weeks on paddocks.

I plan on cutting silage next week. We leave silage a little later because the silage ground gets grazed twice in the springtime. Some of my land is heavy and it can be difficult to get cows into it until April.

I am stocked a little heavier then I would like at 4.28 LU/ha.

We have an 18-day rotation and a pre-grazing yield of 1,350kg/ha. Cows are milking 26.5 litres at 3.49% protein, 3.94% fat (2.03 MS/kg) and SCC 134.

I am feeding 1.5kg of concentrates presently. This was up on 4kg during the wet spell a few weeks ago. Breeding started on 6 May and 85% of cows were submitted in the first three weeks. Breeding goes on for 12 weeks. This year, calving started on 7 February and finished on 19 April.

Heifers performed well and 96% submitted in three weeks. We look at everything three times a day and top up tail paint twice a week on heifers.