The growth rate held steady this week at 60kg/day. The warm and humid weather last week certainly helped to bring up the averages. Heavy rain in the east and north over the weekend and on Tuesday was less welcome, with many farmers having to move stock to drier ground or re-house in extreme circumstances.

So while growth has been reasonably good, those on heavy land are struggling to get a good clean out. Strip wires are in use daily and on/off grazing when necessary.

On the plus side, average farm covers have risen across the board and are now on or above target on most reasonably stocked farms.

The target is to have a farm cover of between 700kg/ha and 900kg/ha. Some farmers are recording covers greater than this and are wondering whether they should cut these out for silage.

For me, whether to cut silage now or not depends on how far ahead of target you are and what the likelihood of growth will be over the coming weeks.

If pre-grazing yields are greater than 2,200kg/ha and if quality is poor, then there is a case to be made to skip over paddocks and cut as soon as possible. But for most farmers surpluses are not that high and it’s more valuable to have the grass in the field than a bale in the yard, especially on heavier land where growth rates will slow down fast as we go into September.

If having to graze a heavy cover, maybe alternate it between day and night grazings on a lower cover. It’s probably better to use a strip wire for heavy paddocks to increase utilisation.

For those behind target in average farm cover, now is the time to supplement, while growth rates are still good, and then stop when the cover rises to target.

Steven Fitzgerald

Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.96

Growth rate (kg/day) 71

Average farm cover (kg/ha) 780

Yield (kg/cow/day) 18.5

Fat % 5.19

Protein % 3.86

Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.66

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0

Growth rate has held steady this week, so we are right on target for average farm cover. We’re getting plenty of heat and moisture, so I expect growth rates to remain good for the next few weeks, especially as we’ve increased the amount of fertiliser we’re spreading. There are now 25 units/acre being spread after the cows come out of the paddock. If the growth rates don’t hold up, we will go in with some good-quality round bale silage. Overall, empty rate was 15%, which is disappointing. There are no obvious reasons why it is so much higher than last year. Milk solids are holding up well at 1.66kg/day.

Donal Patton

Teagasc Ballyhaise, Co Cavan

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.9

Growth rate (kg/day) 54

Average farm cover (kg/ha) 690

Yield (kg/cow/day) 16.3

Fat % 4.76

Protein % 3.7

Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.38

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.5

There has been heavy rain over last weekend, but it hasn’t caused too many problems so far. About 45mm of rain fell, but most of this appears to have just run off. This week, we grew on average 54kg, but some paddocks are growing much better than others. We sprayed for docks and this appears to have checked the grass quite a bit. Some of the paddocks that weren’t sprayed are growing over 80kg/day. The paddocks that we sprayed were the worst for docks – we intended to spray in July, but it was just too wet. We are spreading 30 units of nitrogen/acre after each grazing.

Ed Payne

Castlerea, Co Roscommon

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 3.35

Growth rate (kg/day) 66

Average farm cover (kg/ha) 1,078

Yield (kg/cow/day) 18.8

Fat % 4.46

Protein % 3.89

Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.57

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0.5

Grass has been flying it here for the past couple of weeks, with warm and humid weather nearly every day. The heavy rain on Saturday night hasn’t caused us problems, but I’d be happy enough if we didn’t get rain again for a few weeks. We grew 66kg last week and over 80kg the week before. Farm cover is high at 1,078kg/ha, or 322kg/cow, but I’ve decided not to cut out silage as we are not that far ahead of target. And anyway, the weather is too mixed and quality is very good in the high covers, so I’ve decided to graze them. Cows are milking 1.57kg milk solids.

Kevin Ahern

Shinagh Farm, Co Cork

Stocking rate (cows/ha) 2.92

Growth rate (kg/day) 84

Average farm cover (kg/ha) 999

Yield (kg/cow/day) 17

Fat % 4.25

Protein % 4.01

Milk solids (kg/cow) 1.4

Supplement fed (kg/cow/day) 0

While we got a lot of rain in June and July, the last few weeks have been great for grass growth. We have a higher farm cover now than we’d like, but we’re not complaining just yet. We have decided not to skip any paddocks for the moment as quality is really good. Pre-grazing yield is 1,900kg, but this is due to drop off next week as we go into aftergrass. So far this year, we have fed 127kg of meal and have produced 315kg of milk solids/cow. We are doing no reseeding this autumn. I’m scanning the herd next Saturday, so I will know how fertility went then.