Growth continues to bomb here in Abbeyleix, and grass is absolutely flying at the moment. The combination of strong temperatures and timely rainfall has really driven growth on, and there is no sign of it slowing down yet.

My last grass measurement was two weeks ago, when growth was running at 83kg DM/ha/day.

Since then, we’ve had 33mm of rain, and I would imagine growth is still at least at that level, if not higher. The challenge now is staying ahead of it and maintaining quality rather than simply growing more grass. But I don’t think that will be problem here after taking out paddocks for bales and pre mowing.

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There is often a perception that pre-mowing can negatively affect milk protein

I pre-mowed my last paddock yesterday and the quality ahead of the cows is excellent now. With pre-grazing covers sitting around 1,300kg DM/ha for the past week or so, the paddocks I pre-mowed weren’t overly strong, but I felt it was important to tidy them up while growth is so good and quality is there to be maintained.

There is often a perception that pre-mowing can negatively affect milk protein, but that certainly hasn’t been my experience when it is used on lighter covers rather than trying to rescue overly strong paddocks. The cows have continued to milk very consistently, producing 24–25 litres per day with solids holding well at 4.50% fat and 3.76% protein.

Nitrogen applications are continuing as normal. I’m still following the cows with 20 units of nitrogen after each grazing and spreading on a weekly basis. With the current growth rates and strong grass utilisation, it continues to give a good return.

A number of jobs that had been on the list for a while also got completed over the past week. The silage ground I wanted to spray for docks has now been done. We also sprayed 22ac of grazing paddocks for docks last week.

There are another 20ac or so that will be ready for spraying next week once they have re-grown a bit more. Weed control is one of those jobs that can easily be put on the long finger, but docks quickly become expensive passengers in a grazing system if they’re not dealt with. I haven’t needed to spray for docks in a number of years as we usually get a good kill with the post emergence spray after reseeding.

The reseeding programme is also moving ahead. I have 12ac sprayed off and ready for cultivation.

Milk quality remains satisfactory overall

The plan is to apply dung along with 3,000 gallons per acre of slurry from the beef tank, before subsoiling and sowing early next week. Good reseeds are a key part of maintaining grass production on the farm, and with current fertiliser and feed costs, every extra tonne of grass grown is valuable.

Milk quality remains satisfactory overall. SCC is running around 150,000 cells/ml, although a handful of chronic cows that simply won’t cure are keeping it higher than I would like. In previous years I would have relied heavily on intramammary tubes, but they have been difficult to source lately. Whether their absence is contributing to the issue or whether these cows were always going to remain problematic is hard to know. It is certainly something I’ll be monitoring closely over the coming months.

Breeding season is progressing reasonably well. One frustration has been seven cows returning bulling at around the 40-day mark after AI. It’s disappointing when cows appear settled and then come back cycling.

On the positive side, repeats have been very quiet over the last couple of weeks, which hopefully is a good sign. We are due to scan this week, and that should give a much clearer picture of where we stand and whether the breeding season is shaping up as well as it currently appears.

Away from the cows, our neighbour Cathal has been making great progress with the power washing. He has one calf shed and the large cubicle shed completed already. With school now finished for the summer, he should make good progress over the coming weeks and hopefully have the remaining buildings looking as good as new before long.