Some farmers were very thankful for the rain last weekend to boost growth rates. More have seen growth rates drop off significantly for the last two weeks. The key point now is that you need a strategy or a plan to lift covers if you are not building covers. If you have to start feeding round bales or meal, then it should be done sooner rather than later to allow you to take advantage of growth rates.
Some farmers are considering going with the last application of nitrogen earlier rather than waiting until mid-September to boost growth rates as early as possible. The last rotation for most farmers will start from 10 to 15 October and all paddocks should be cleaned out to 150kg-200kg of a cover.
What to remember
Nitrogen: Aim to have 30 to 40 units of N per acre out, especially if you are low in cover or highly stocked. You don’t have to wait until mid-September just because of the rules.Autumn growth rates are mainly governed by daylight hours with soil temperature and rainfall levels less important. Growth rate on the farm can be maximised by lengthening the rotation to between 40 and 50 days now to take advantage of the remaining number of long days. Putting more grass on the farm is critical for those short on winter feed. If short of grass, feed the herd now with up to 4kg of meal/round-baled silage until late September to reduce herd demand for grass and maintain rotation length at 40 days. This will maximise the amount of grass on the farm for September. Try and feed now rather than in the last round because it is hard to clean out paddocks if feeding hard.Move with the growth rates and try to be flexible. Higher than anticipated growth rates in September should be matched by reductions in feed.
Sean Bugler Scarriff,
Co Clare“We are stocked heavy at four cows per hectare on the milking platform but we have enough grass. If we start getting short, we’ll put in round bale silage. We are feeding 2kg of meal per cow at the moment and pulled out a few cull cows this week. The cows are milking well, averaging 20 litres at 3.65% protein and 4.20% fat (1.6kg MS/cow). We are grazing covers of 2,000kg this week but it is area that was pre-cut last time, so it is high quality.
‘‘In terms of autumn grass, my rule of thumb is a rotation length of 30 days by 1 September and 42 days by 10 October. In terms of grass covers, much depends on the land type. Last year, I found on the wetter ground that I let covers go a little heavy in the autumn and I felt we paid for it in the spring with lower and lighter grass covers on the area that had a high autumn cover.
‘‘I find that it is fine to build up to 500kg of grass per livestock unit if you are stocked between 2 and 2.8 cows per hectare. However, you can’t go to those very heavy covers if you are stocked higher than that or, else, you would be grazing pure silage. I know in my high stocking rate system, which we settle down at 3.5 cows/ha in September, I have to start with meal in late August and then bring in round bale silage in September, depending on growth rates to maintain and build grass covers.’’
Sean Bugler is farming near Scarriff in east Clare and is heavily stocked. Brian Rushe Johnstown Bridge, Kildare
“We are lucky in that we probably have too much grass at the moment because we never really ran short. The drought conditions that hit south Kildare didn’t affect us and we got rain when we wanted at all times. To manage the grass, I have brought the maiden heifers home to the milking platform. With milking cows only, we are stocked at 3.5 cows/ha and now that the heifers are home it is higher but they can go very quickly if I decide, so are not built into the system. Growth has dropped off this week with lower temperatures and we are back to less than 45kg growth per day.
‘‘We have a dry farm, so I don’t want to start building too early or I’ll start going into covers that are too high, too soon.
‘‘I have 16 acres of new reseed that I want to mind, so I won’t let the cover get too high as there is no sod developed on it just yet.
‘‘I’ll be well able to handle a cover of 500kg per livestock unit for mid-September but I won’t go any higher than that. By mid-September, we’ll be stocked at 2.8 cows/ha and with a cover of 500kg per cow. That should mean we will aim to have a farm cover of 1,400kg (2.8 x 500kg) across the farm. We have 225 units of nitrogen spread per hectare and we’ll top that to 250 units per acre. We’ll start closing paddocks in early October. Cows are once-a-day milking since early August, milking 1.2kg MS per day.”
Brian Rushe is a new entrant to dairy farming milking at Thomastown, Johnstown Bridge, Co Kildare and is average to lowly stocked.Oliver Lynch Skibbereen, West Cork
“We haven’t had rain like the rest of the country had over the last few weeks and, as a result, we are short enough in grass. Too much grass isn’t a problem but the rain arrived last weekend, so we are expecting growth rates to pick up. We are in an unusual position in that we have never had as low a stocking rate at this time of the year as we were lucky to get some additional land bordering the milking platform.
‘‘We are stocked at 2.5 cows/hectare and have enough grass up to now but we will have to start feeding if the rain that arrived last weekend doesn’t drive growth on. There are a few small first calvers and low yielding cows that we will dry off soon to reduce demand for autumn grass further. Last August, we were in drought and had to feed heavy for three weeks, so the slightly lower stocking rate gives great comfort and we will consider the overall plan before increasing stocking rate dramatically. We have just spread 35 units of nitrogen per acre, so that and the rain should give it a good boost. We have slightly blacker soil around the house but we can manage grazing with most conditions. We will aim for 500kg of grass per cow for mid-September.
‘‘We would like more grass than we have now but, with nitrogen out, rain last weekend and with 40% reseeded over the last two years, we should get enough growth in the next two weeks. We will watch it closely for the next few weeks to ensure that covers build. Cows are milking 16 litres at 4.2% fat and 3.75% protein (1.3kg MS).”
Oliver Lynch is farming near Skibbereen in West Cork and is lowly stocked.
Some farmers were very thankful for the rain last weekend to boost growth rates. More have seen growth rates drop off significantly for the last two weeks. The key point now is that you need a strategy or a plan to lift covers if you are not building covers. If you have to start feeding round bales or meal, then it should be done sooner rather than later to allow you to take advantage of growth rates.
Some farmers are considering going with the last application of nitrogen earlier rather than waiting until mid-September to boost growth rates as early as possible. The last rotation for most farmers will start from 10 to 15 October and all paddocks should be cleaned out to 150kg-200kg of a cover.
What to remember
Nitrogen: Aim to have 30 to 40 units of N per acre out, especially if you are low in cover or highly stocked. You don’t have to wait until mid-September just because of the rules.Autumn growth rates are mainly governed by daylight hours with soil temperature and rainfall levels less important. Growth rate on the farm can be maximised by lengthening the rotation to between 40 and 50 days now to take advantage of the remaining number of long days. Putting more grass on the farm is critical for those short on winter feed. If short of grass, feed the herd now with up to 4kg of meal/round-baled silage until late September to reduce herd demand for grass and maintain rotation length at 40 days. This will maximise the amount of grass on the farm for September. Try and feed now rather than in the last round because it is hard to clean out paddocks if feeding hard.Move with the growth rates and try to be flexible. Higher than anticipated growth rates in September should be matched by reductions in feed.
Sean Bugler Scarriff,
Co Clare“We are stocked heavy at four cows per hectare on the milking platform but we have enough grass. If we start getting short, we’ll put in round bale silage. We are feeding 2kg of meal per cow at the moment and pulled out a few cull cows this week. The cows are milking well, averaging 20 litres at 3.65% protein and 4.20% fat (1.6kg MS/cow). We are grazing covers of 2,000kg this week but it is area that was pre-cut last time, so it is high quality.
‘‘In terms of autumn grass, my rule of thumb is a rotation length of 30 days by 1 September and 42 days by 10 October. In terms of grass covers, much depends on the land type. Last year, I found on the wetter ground that I let covers go a little heavy in the autumn and I felt we paid for it in the spring with lower and lighter grass covers on the area that had a high autumn cover.
‘‘I find that it is fine to build up to 500kg of grass per livestock unit if you are stocked between 2 and 2.8 cows per hectare. However, you can’t go to those very heavy covers if you are stocked higher than that or, else, you would be grazing pure silage. I know in my high stocking rate system, which we settle down at 3.5 cows/ha in September, I have to start with meal in late August and then bring in round bale silage in September, depending on growth rates to maintain and build grass covers.’’
Sean Bugler is farming near Scarriff in east Clare and is heavily stocked. Brian Rushe Johnstown Bridge, Kildare
“We are lucky in that we probably have too much grass at the moment because we never really ran short. The drought conditions that hit south Kildare didn’t affect us and we got rain when we wanted at all times. To manage the grass, I have brought the maiden heifers home to the milking platform. With milking cows only, we are stocked at 3.5 cows/ha and now that the heifers are home it is higher but they can go very quickly if I decide, so are not built into the system. Growth has dropped off this week with lower temperatures and we are back to less than 45kg growth per day.
‘‘We have a dry farm, so I don’t want to start building too early or I’ll start going into covers that are too high, too soon.
‘‘I have 16 acres of new reseed that I want to mind, so I won’t let the cover get too high as there is no sod developed on it just yet.
‘‘I’ll be well able to handle a cover of 500kg per livestock unit for mid-September but I won’t go any higher than that. By mid-September, we’ll be stocked at 2.8 cows/ha and with a cover of 500kg per cow. That should mean we will aim to have a farm cover of 1,400kg (2.8 x 500kg) across the farm. We have 225 units of nitrogen spread per hectare and we’ll top that to 250 units per acre. We’ll start closing paddocks in early October. Cows are once-a-day milking since early August, milking 1.2kg MS per day.”
Brian Rushe is a new entrant to dairy farming milking at Thomastown, Johnstown Bridge, Co Kildare and is average to lowly stocked.Oliver Lynch Skibbereen, West Cork
“We haven’t had rain like the rest of the country had over the last few weeks and, as a result, we are short enough in grass. Too much grass isn’t a problem but the rain arrived last weekend, so we are expecting growth rates to pick up. We are in an unusual position in that we have never had as low a stocking rate at this time of the year as we were lucky to get some additional land bordering the milking platform.
‘‘We are stocked at 2.5 cows/hectare and have enough grass up to now but we will have to start feeding if the rain that arrived last weekend doesn’t drive growth on. There are a few small first calvers and low yielding cows that we will dry off soon to reduce demand for autumn grass further. Last August, we were in drought and had to feed heavy for three weeks, so the slightly lower stocking rate gives great comfort and we will consider the overall plan before increasing stocking rate dramatically. We have just spread 35 units of nitrogen per acre, so that and the rain should give it a good boost. We have slightly blacker soil around the house but we can manage grazing with most conditions. We will aim for 500kg of grass per cow for mid-September.
‘‘We would like more grass than we have now but, with nitrogen out, rain last weekend and with 40% reseeded over the last two years, we should get enough growth in the next two weeks. We will watch it closely for the next few weeks to ensure that covers build. Cows are milking 16 litres at 4.2% fat and 3.75% protein (1.3kg MS).”
Oliver Lynch is farming near Skibbereen in West Cork and is lowly stocked. 
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