The 100ha grazing block at Teagasc's Johnstown Castle beef unit is impeccably set up for grazing, with roadways, multiple access points and a number of drinkers servicing each paddock.

That being said, like for most livestock farmers in the region, grazing 2018 had yet to really kick off, as farmers descended last week for the latest spring Grass10 walk.

There is excellent grazing infastructure in place on Johnstown Castle's beef unit.

There is excellent grazing infastructure in place on Johnstown Castle's beef unit.

There is excellent grazing infastructure in place on Johnstown Castle's beef unit.

Turnout

The first turnout of the year occurred on Wednesday (21 March), when 108 light dairy cross yearlings (average weight 315kg) went out in two groups.

Farm manager Brendan Swan told patrons how he had toyed with the idea of turning these animals out during the dry spell before the heavy snowfall at the end of February, but decided against it based on the forecast.

The animals eventually turned out this week, to dry paddocks with light to moderate covers of grass.

Light yearlings were turned out on Wednesday, 21 March, to moderate covers on dry paddocks.

Light yearlings were turned out on Wednesday, 21 March, to moderate covers on dry paddocks.

Trial

There is currently a stocking rate trial running on the beef unit at Johnstown Castle, with 216 animals running on an allocation of 60ha. Three breeds are involved, Limousin, Angus and Hereford, all from the dairy herd. These stock will be slaughtered between 26 and 30 months of age, from grass. The unit is also carrying just shy of 100 progeny from the maternal herd at Teagasc Grange and a group of commercial finishing cattle too.

Brendan Swan, farm manager, and (right) John Maher, Grass10 coordinator.

On the day, Grass 10 coordinator John Maher, along with manager Brendan Swan and drystock adviser Kay O’Connell, gave an outline of the grass situation and plan going forward.

“We normally close on 11 November, but with the bad back end last year we were forced to house all on 20 October,” Brendan said.

As a result, there is a massive average grass cover of 1,137kg DM/ha (8.5cm) across the whole farm. As ground dries up, this leaves the management in a relatively good position from a feed supply point of view. But John Maher warned about getting this grazed off “as soon as possible, to kickstart growth and leave us in control beginning the second rotation and going into the summer".

He said that farmers should be picking a date between 15 April and 25 April and aiming to complete a full rotation of the farm between now and then.

Daily target

“It’s very simple, work out what you need to graze every day to achieve this target and try and stick to it. If you’re going too quickly through it, introduce meals or grass silage supplementation. If you’re going too slowly, you need to turn more stock out. There’s roughly 30 days between now and then and these trial cattle are on a 60ha block, so that’s two hectares daily we need to get through here.”

Waste?

In terms of fertiliser, 23 units of N (urea) had been spread between 8 February and 13 February. When asked whether this had been a waste of money, Maher was quick on the counter.

“Absolutely not. We have fed our grass plant. I am seeing fields around the country where grass is looking starved and deteriorating. The material under your feet here is green (below) despite being closed for five months. While we may not have gotten our 10:1 response per kg of nitrogen, it has done another job. I would be confident that this sward will have a feeding value in excess of 80% DMD and is better than anything you have in the shed.”

This paddock had been closed for five months and received 23 units of N (urea) in early-February.

The crowd was advised to avoid CAN and compound fertilisers like 18:6:12 until the forecast settled as these are more volatile and like water, whereas urea is not water friendly.

“CAN will go where water goes,” John Maher said.

Flick through the gallery to see more images from the Johnstown Castle beef unit

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