Grass growth averaged 29kg/day on our Grass+ farms for the past week. This is not wonderful for the time of year, and is a reflection of the cold and wintry weather.

However, grass is by no means scarce on most farms so it’s probably a good time to see a reduction in grass growth.

Some farmers have already started the second rotation. The cover of grass on the first paddocks in the second round determines when you should start grazing.

If it is at 1,200kg/ha, then it’s time to start the second round. However, what is coming behind and what the average farm cover is are two big considerations also.

Don’t skip over too much of the first rotation if it leaves the area tight for the second rotation.

Ideally, the farm should be at an average farm cover of 500kg/ha now. Most farms are still around 800kg/ha. This means that the difference between growth and demand can be 43kg/day and average farm cover will still be OK.

The minority of farms that are at 500kg/ha need to match grass demand with grass growth.

If this means grazing a field of grass that was earmarked for silage then so be it.

It makes far more sense to do this than to feed extra meal or worse again feed silage.

Forecast

The weather forecast for early next week is better – dry and with higher temperatures but still not mild.

It should be good enough to support a growth rate of 50kg/day. The rule of thumb for fertiliser is to have 85kgN/ha out by 1 April and 123kgN/ha out by 1 May.

Urea is still the product of choice in this weather. It’s a bit early yet to be spraying off fields for reseeding. The time when there will be a true surplus is hopefully not too far away.