The average grass growth rate over the last week was 23kg per day, but it’s predicted to be 36kg per day over the coming week.

Growth has been sluggish because while the daytime temperature was high, nights have been cold and this type of weather is set to return over the coming weekend, which will temper growth prospects. All in all it’s the type of weather one would expect for the time of year.

The best policy is to keep walking paddocks, keep an eye on the weather forecast and try to predict changes before they happen.

In the meantime, it’s essential not to let average farm cover run down too low. The magic number is 500kg/ha as going below this means the farm will take much longer to recover after the increase in growth does come.

Most farms that were able to get out and start grazing early have now either started, or are about to start the second rotation.

If the cover on these first couple of paddocks is low, as in less than 1,000kg/ha, don’t be shy about putting in some extra feed if it means avoiding a tailspin.

The thing to remember is that once these paddocks hit a certain threshold of cover they will begin to grow much faster. Sometimes, a small bit of patience and perseverance pays off.

The tricky part is to know when to let off the reins, but I don’t think we’re at that point yet.

Sward Watch

  • Growth rates are moderate for the time of year but are expected to increase over the next week. However, cold weather over the weekend will restrict growth.
  • Now is the time to apply fertiliser on dairy and drystock farms to boost grass growth over the coming six weeks.
  • Consider skipping over some heavy covers if still in the first rotation. The quality in these high covers will be low and it’s likely that some paddocks will be skipped for silage anyway, so it may as well be these ones.
  • Have silage fields closed and spread with fertiliser by 14 April. If these fields are getting slurry they won’t need any additional chemical P and K but they will still need extra nitrogen.
  • Kevin Moran

    Caherlistrane

    Co Galway

    Things are going reasonably well. We started the second rotation on Wednesday but still have one paddock of the first round to graze. There’s 1,200kg to 1,300kg of cover on the first few paddocks but then it drops back a good bit, so that’s something we need to watch. Cows are on 6kg of meal for this week to slow them down a bit and they’re getting 12kg of grass in two allocations.

    We hosted a Teagasc clover walk here on Friday. The fields with good clover will be getting less nitrogen and we plan to over-sow a few paddocks later this month. We body condition scored the cows earlier this week in advance of breeding.

    Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.95

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 3

    Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 638

    Yield (l/cow/day) 27.3

    Fat % 4.23

    Protein % 3.47

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2.17

    Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 6

    William Dennehy

    Currow

    Co Kerry

    I sowed clover on one third of the farm last year between full reseed and over-sowing. In hindsight it was too much to do at once but it all worked except about three acres. I had to graze it at low covers of 1,000kg to keep plenty of light into the base which was difficult, but at the end of the year I had two pallets of urea and three pallets of 18:6:12 left over so it was well worth it.

    These fields will get very little nitrogen for the rest of this season, but I’ll keep spreading dairy washings and top up with potash also. I’m nearly finished the first round and I’ll skip into the second round when it hits 1,300kg/ha.

    Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 3.1

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 43

    Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 1,010

    Yield (l/cow/day) 24.5

    Fat % 4.20

    Protein % 3.70

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.99

    Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 2.4

    Barry Reilly

    Teagasc

    Ballyhaise

    Growth is more or less equal to demand and we still have a lot of grass on the farm, so we have skipped over 10% of the first round and that’s now closed for silage. We still have about seven days of grazing left in the first rotation.

    We are also planning on spraying off land for reseeding. We plan to reseed about 35% of the farm this year, which is obviously much higher than a normal farm would be doing, but it’s part of the research project as we need to get clover established for the trial. There is a cover of around 1,200kg to 1,300kg back on the first grazed paddock so we’re happy enough.

    Stocking Rate (cows/ha) 2.5

    Growth Rate (kg/day) 25

    Average Farm Cover (kg/ha) 720

    Yield (l/cow/day) 24.5

    Fat % 4.47

    Protein % 3.65

    Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2

    Supplement Fed (kg/cow/day) 2

    Dairy farmer Kevin Moran. in Caherlistrane, Co Galway. The focus of the walk is on grassland management, clover, fertiliser abd food secuirty in 2022. Kevin Moran has around 20% cover of a small leaf variety of white clover called Coofin on his farm. \ Philip Doyle

    Shaun Diver

    Tullamore farm

    Co Offaly

    We are down to 50 ewes to lamb, most of which are ewe lambs and 20 cows still to calve. It has been a busy few weeks with lambing but conditions were ideal for getting ewes and lambs out to grass within 24-hours of lambing.

    The maiden heifers got their BVD and Lepto vaccinations this week as well as a mineral bolus to prepare for breeding. The next job is to vaccinate the cows as well as giving the calves their first clostridial vaccination.

    Grass growth has gone nicely over the last week with conditions somewhat kinder. Ground conditions are good, so stock are cleaning out paddocks nicely at the moment. The silage ground received 2,600gal/acre of slurry and fertiliser will go out this week.

    System Suckler to beef

    Soil type Variable

    Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 922

    Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 29

    Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 25

    Brian Geraghty

    Dysart

    Co Roscommon

    I bought a batch of Angus heifers last week and they are settling in well. They can go in and out of the shed as they like. On fine days they spend a lot of time outside, but in the last couple of days with wet weather they have been in the shed the majority of the day.

    All the yearling cattle are at grass and are quite content. Grass growth has been slow up to now, I am hoping with a return to more cloudy weather that night-time temperatures will be higher and growth will improve.

    Cattle are still on the first rotation but I have the heaviest covers grazed at this point, so they are moving across ground that bit quicker. What is grazed is coming back nicely, but slower than expected.

    System: Dairy calf to beef

    Soil type Mostly dry

    Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 728

    Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 21

    Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 23

    Derek O’Donoghue

    Salesian Agricultural College

    Pallaskenry

    We had rain mid-week which was welcomed but I hope the weather will be softer over the next few weeks.

    On the drystock side we are dealing with grass problems due to not being out early enough. What is grazed has a cover of 700kgDM/ha, while heavier paddocks are now beyond grazing. As a result we baled 14 acres of surplus on Tuesday.

    The ewes and lambs are currently on 1,200kgDM/ha swards while the beef cattle are making their way through a paddock of 1,900kgDM/ha just until this pinch point passes. Grazing ground has had two applications of nitrogen, 18 units/acre in early spring and 24 units/acre a few weeks ago.

    System Dairy calf to beef & sheep

    Soil type Free draining

    Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 728

    Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 34

    Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 19