Most of the country has received rain over the last week and grass growth has really responded. Many farms are now growing in excess of 80kg/day and some are growing over 100kg/day. That said, some farms continue to be tight for grass as covers ran down over the last few weeks. However, looking at the forecast, finding a window to make silage will be the issue.
A burst in grass growth is always a double-edged sward. While the increase in growth is good to see, that extra grass really needs to be converted to silage, otherwise milk and liveweight gain will decrease. The best way to gauge this is to look at the pre-grazing yield and the post-grazing height. If animals are going into high covers they will be eating a lot more stem and leaving a white base behind them. This will depress performance and re-growths will be slower.
Walk the farm every few days and aim to have an average farm cover of between 150kg/cow and 180kg/cow, with demand closely matched to growth rates. For beef farms, average farm cover is a good indicator – it takes into account demand and days ahead. Target days ahead (10-14 is optimum) multiplied by your daily grass demand (kg DM/ha/day) will give your target farm cover. So if your farm cover is comfortably above target, grass surpluses are likely, particularly if daily growth rates are overtaking your demand. Don’t set demand higher than the medium-term growth prediction. I’d be slow to set demand higher than 80kg/day, unless you’re sure you can cut the surplus paddocks there and then. Avoid the temptation to pre-mow paddocks that have gone strong. Put them into a bale instead. See more on fertiliser on page 66.
Most of the country has received rain over the last week and grass growth has really responded. Many farms are now growing in excess of 80kg/day and some are growing over 100kg/day. That said, some farms continue to be tight for grass as covers ran down over the last few weeks. However, looking at the forecast, finding a window to make silage will be the issue.
A burst in grass growth is always a double-edged sward. While the increase in growth is good to see, that extra grass really needs to be converted to silage, otherwise milk and liveweight gain will decrease. The best way to gauge this is to look at the pre-grazing yield and the post-grazing height. If animals are going into high covers they will be eating a lot more stem and leaving a white base behind them. This will depress performance and re-growths will be slower.
Walk the farm every few days and aim to have an average farm cover of between 150kg/cow and 180kg/cow, with demand closely matched to growth rates. For beef farms, average farm cover is a good indicator – it takes into account demand and days ahead. Target days ahead (10-14 is optimum) multiplied by your daily grass demand (kg DM/ha/day) will give your target farm cover. So if your farm cover is comfortably above target, grass surpluses are likely, particularly if daily growth rates are overtaking your demand. Don’t set demand higher than the medium-term growth prediction. I’d be slow to set demand higher than 80kg/day, unless you’re sure you can cut the surplus paddocks there and then. Avoid the temptation to pre-mow paddocks that have gone strong. Put them into a bale instead. See more on fertiliser on page 66.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: