Thankfully, the drought is finally over here in Abbeyleix. We got around 70mm of rain over the last week and it is hard to believe the difference it has made. The place seemed to turn green overnight.

After looking at brown fields and bare ground for what felt like months, it is some sight to see grass starting to grow again.

We are still a long way from having enough grass ahead of the cows, but at least we are finally heading in the right direction. Every paddock on the milking platform is still carrying less than 500kg DM/ha, so there is no danger of us being able to turn off the silage tap just yet. I haven’t done a proper grass walk since the rain came, but that will be one of the first jobs this week.

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From here on, I will be measuring twice a week for the next while. I expect growth to motor once the ground has got a good drink, and with temperatures still reasonably favourable, we will need to keep a close eye on covers and adjust the diet accordingly.

The difference

The cows have already noticed the difference. We have been able to pull back slightly on the silage and are now down to four bales a day. They had started leaving silage behind once the rain arrived, which was a good indication that there was more green material coming into the diet.

We are still feeding 8kg of nuts in the parlour, so I am keeping hay in at the feeding barrier where the cows come into the collecting yard.

With the amount of meal going into them, along with the change from a very dry diet to lush grass coming into the system, I think it is no harm to give the rumen a bit of extra fibre.

Milk is holding reasonably well considering the conditions we have been through. The cows are averaging around 21 litres on the last few collections, with butterfat at 5.30% and protein at 4%. The high solids are a good return from the cows, particularly at this stage of the year. SCC is the one area that is giving a bit of concern, sitting up around 200,000. We have a few cases of mastitis to contend with as well, so that will be something we will have to stay on top of over the coming weeks. I also carried out my monthly mobility scoring last week. Nineteen cows were picked out for a closer look.

Five of those had no issues at all, while the remainder had small issues that were dealt with through preventative trimming.

It is one of those jobs where you are better off catching the small things early rather than waiting until you have a cow properly lame. A bit of preventative work now can save a lot of hassle later on, particularly when cows are walking longer distances and spending more time out grazing. We have put a good bit of emphasis on mobility here and I think regular scoring and picking away at the small problems is paying dividends.

Reseed

The reseed has come through the drought better than I thought it might.It is starting to motor now with the rain, and there is grass seed up across the whole field.

It is still fairly patchy in places, but there is plenty of grass there, and I think it will fill out nicely over the next few weeks.

The weeds, on the other hand, certainly didn’t stop growing during the drought. If anything, they seemed to be waiting for the first bit of rain and then took off altogether.

They have become very strong very quickly, to the point where we have actually been out pulling weeds by hand for a while most days over the last week. Some of them had simply got too strong to leave until we got spraying. I am planning to spray the reseed next week because, at the rate things are growing now, another few days could make a big difference.

We will be going with a clover-friendly spray, and there is a great hit of clover coming through, which is something I am keen to protect. The docks are quite strong in places, though, so we may have to go back with the quad and spot-spray some of them if the main spray doesn’t get the job done.

Changing priorities

I would also like to get the field rolled again if conditions allow. Apart from firming the seedbed, I think it would help the grass plants to tiller out and fill in some of the thinner areas. There is grass seed up everywhere, so hopefully with a bit of time and some decent growing conditions it will tiller well.

It is funny how quickly the priorities change on a farm.

A couple of weeks ago we were wondering would the reseed survive the drought, and now we are worrying about getting the weeds sprayed before they get too strong.