These are normal growths rates for the time of year. In some cases, growth is ahead of demand, so 'magic day' has passed.

The Shinagh Dairy farm in Bandon, recorded a remarkable growth rate of 62kg/day for the past seven days. The challenge for most farmers now is to match demand with growth rates.

Because growth was slower than normal up to recently, many farmers have been feeding extra silage and meal to stretch out the remaining grass. Most of this extra feed can now be removed from the diet and the majority of the diet should be grass.

While day time temperatures are averaging 15 or 16 degrees, nights remain cold at two to three degrees. The risk of grass tetany is very real, so continue to feed cal mag.

On grassland management, the average farm cover (per hectare and per cow) and growth rates are the two key figures for the second rotation. Because most herds are more or less finished calving, demand is not going to change much.

Most farmers will target an average farm cover of about 150 kg/cow for the second rotation. Multiply this by the stocking rate to get target average farm cover per hectare.

If growth rates are higher than demand and average farm cover is considerably higher than 150 kg/cow then it is time to start closing ground for silage. Remember, these fields can always be grazed again if grass slows.

At this time of year, too much grass is a bigger problem than not having enough. Grass can get out of control very quickly, with quality suffering as a result.

On the fertilizer front, some farmers in the south and east will spread a bag of ASN/acre in this round of fertiliser to provide the majority of their sulphur requirements. For highly stocked farms, about 30 units/acre of nitrogen should be spread this month and next.