Our measuring beef farms grew 64kg DM/ha/day on average this week, in what has been an excellent period for grazing.

On many farms, second-cut silage ground is coming back into play and, while the aftergrass will be welcome from a stock performance point of view, don’t lose focus of the bigger picture that is the complete grazing block.

Aim to build to 15 days’ worth of grass as it returns.

With much of the country receiving biblical levels of rainfall yesterday and the forecast being for more of the same in parts over the weekend, grass utilisation will inevitably suffer and silage making will grind to a halt.

If things get sticky, move cattle more regularly. Revert back to the mindset of someone who is trying to graze fields in February. At Tullamore Farm, our manager Ger is grazing in 48-hour blocks presently, but will go to 24 hours if the sod begins to cut under cattle. Permanent paddocks are being split with polywire reels at present and he will simply introduce more if needs be. Centrally located drinkers give him options in this regard.

Ferocious rain

Don’t be afraid to stand cattle in a yard or on a roadway if the rain gets ferocious, until it subsides. Then, they can go back into paddocks.

On the silage end, paddocks stopped as surplus will probably have to wait now.

While we always encourage forage quality, consider what is being fed on the farm this winter.

Provided body condition is right at housing, spring-calving sucklers can be maintained on 62-65% DMD grass silage during the winter months.

If we are achieving three to five bales per acre from surplus paddocks, this is likely too good for these types of cows. With 25% dry matter bales, a suckler cow will eat around 2.1 bales a month.

Ger O’Dwyer

Tullamore Farm

System: suckler/calf to beef

Soil type: variable

Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha): 669

Grass demand (kg DM/ha/day): 57

Growth (kg DM/ha/day): 62

Growth has been consistently ahead of our demand, but we are keeping on top of things by actively removing paddocks. We have 90 bales taken from surplus paddocks alone to date in 2017.

Grazing has been progressing well since our last update. Cows and calves are grazing in 48-hour blocks and achieving good clean outs (4-4.5cm). Pre-grazing heights are running at 1,400-1,600kg DM/ha. It remains to be seen how much rain will fall in the coming days and what effect it will have on our cleanouts. I find that grazing tight early on in the year gets rid of any woody material and cows are happy to graze paddocks right down thereafter.

With a small degree of lameness creeping into the herd, we are dressing hardcore roadway sections with a soft 804 dust.

The team and I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 25 July for our first open day on the farm.

Ricky Milligan

Co Kildare

System: suckler/calf to beef

Soil type: free draining

Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha): 770

Grass demand (kg DM/ha/day): 39

Growth (kg DM/ha/day): 69

Growth rate has remained strong in recent weeks and as a result I was able to take surplus bales from paddocks last week in order to keep quality in the grass. My second-cut silage was mowed on Monday afternoon and picked up on Tuesday evening. It was a light crop but it looked to be top quality and should make good silage. Two weeks ago I sprayed a number of paddocks which had a heavy dock burden and it looks like I have achieved a good kill. Faecal samples were taken from yearling steers and heifers two weeks ago and liver fluke was detected, all stock were dosed with Tribex and they look to be doing well. I hope to get a weight on them by the end of the week to see their average daily gain since turnout. All dairy-bred calves are grazing in front of the main herd of cows to ensure they are getting the best-quality grass available. The bull was taken from the cows last week in order to keep the calving compact.

Ken Gill

Co Offaly

System: suckler to organic beef

Soil type: heavy clay

Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha): 886

Grass demand (kg DM/ha/day): 28

Growth (kg DM/ha/day): 31

Grass is holding up well, despite the fact that some of the fields cut for silage at the end of June would have benefited from a little more rain. I have enough grass to keep cattle going for another week and then I will put them back on silage ground. This is important to provide clean grazing in order to reduce the need for dosing which I try to keep to an absolute minimum in line with organic consumer demand.

My cows are on very restricted grazing on the field which I am planning to plough next week for a crop of turnip, rape, and kale. This tight grazing is necessary as I can’t spray off the field with chemicals before ploughing.

I’m planning to weigh all the cattle next week. After this, I’ll pick out those that are close to finishing and would benefit from a boost. These cattle will be put in a smaller paddock and will be fed with a pea/barley combi-crop when it is harvested in a few weeks’ time.

Kieran Noonan

Co Cork

System: suckler to store/weanling

Soil type: heavy

Avg farm cover (kg DM/ha): 1,041

Grass demand (kg DM/ha/day): 68

Growth (kg DM/ha/day): 67

I am in the process of burning off seven acres of rough grazing with glyphosate. I intend to plough and reseed this ground in the coming week (see main BETTER farm page for protocol). Grass varieties selected will be suitable for wet land. Ground cover and persistency are very important traits when selecting grass for heavy land due to the constant threat of poaching. A post-emergence spray will be applied six weeks later. This is the most important part of any reseeding job.

I am continually fertilising the grazing ground with 18-6-12 to try and build phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). I am applying it at a rate of 1.5 bags/acre. Silage was cut in early June and I am hoping for at least 70% DMD to cut meal bills.

I plan to start reclaiming more rough grazing ground around 20 July. This will involve cleaning away scrub around the boundary followed by a few drains before addressing soil fertility and reseeding. IN the yard, work will begin soon on a lean-to type shed extension.