After a tough week watching fields turn from green to brown under the scorching sun, we finally got a decent drop of rain. Grass growth had more or less fallen off a cliff here around Abbeyleix, and things were starting to look fairly bleak.

The place was beginning to resemble a drought-hit region more than a lush part of the midlands, and all in a matter of days.

Growth had dropped back to just 34kg DM/ha, with average farm cover per cow slipping to 142kg DM/ha – low for this time of year.

ADVERTISEMENT

I was walking paddocks twice a week, hoping things wouldn’t go from bad to worse, and I was right on the edge of having to open bales.

Thankfully, the heavens opened just in time. We had 25mm of rain last Tuesday, and another 52mm since, bringing much-needed moisture back into the ground.

The soil has soaked it up like a sponge and now we’re seeing the first signs of the grass kicking back into gear. I measured again yesterday and growth has jumped back up to 80kg DM/ha ahead of demand at 66kg DM/ha, so we should be good for another few weeks.

Before the rain came, we managed to get the second cut silage into the pit – on what felt like one of the hottest Saturdays of the year. But you couldn’t ask for better weather for harvesting.

The result was a big pit of clean, dry silage that I’m very happy with. It should see us through the winter comfortably. That job is always a bit of a milestone in the year, and ticking it off with a good result is a great feeling.

Looking ahead, I’m planning a third- cut of bales from one of the out-blocks in five to six weeks’ time. I spread three bags of 21-0-10 per acre on it. With a bit of luck and continued moisture, we’ll get good quality bales off it.

I got the second out-block boundary fenced with single strand electric, which has been on the to-do list for a while. I got a contractor in to do it, and I am approved for a grant for it so that’s a help.

That bit of land will now be ready for the in-calf heifers, who are coming home from the contract-rearer in the next week or two.

I just have to put in the water troughs and join up the water now. It’s always good to have a clean, well-fenced piece ready for them.

Heat stress

We had another wobble during the hot spell, this time in the parlour. Milk yield and protein dropped off, and I’m putting it squarely down to heat stress, both on the cows and the grass.

The cows fell back to giving around 22-23l, which is a good litre and a half off where they had been. Protein also dipped, from 3.72% down to 3.67% – it’s creeping back up thankfully.

Hopefully, with grass growth back on track and good quality leafy covers ahead of the cows now, we’ll see both yield and solids recover over the next 10 days.

We also had a spike in our somatic cell count (SCC) – it jumped up to 229,000 over the weekend. After a full check of the herd, it turns out heat stress was likely to blame.

We found one cow with a clear case of mastitis – no surprise it was the same repeat offender I’ve had trouble with before. Since then, the SCC has dropped back to 140,000, which is more in line with where I’d like to see it.

It’s a good reminder of how quickly stress – whether heat, flies, or even short-term hunger – can hit cow health and milk quality.

Our reseed was up in six days, which was encouraging, but after that, it struggled badly due to the dry spell. Now that we’ve got moisture, it’s finally coming to life – but so are the weeds.

I’ll need to spray in the next fortnight to stop the weeds from smothering the new sward.