Grazing has been a smash-and-grab effort for most since the snow storm. Subsequent rain and the water left behind after huge volumes of snow melted has left even the most free-draining farms saturated.

The problem is worst in the midlands and east. The west has avoided the harsh weather for a change. At 9kg DM/ha daily, grass growth is half what it was in 2017 this week as temperatures are sluggish to lift. Unfortunately, the southern half of the country will see a good deal of rain this evening (Thursday) and temperatures are set to plunge again over the weekend. Those with grass on their farms are getting cattle to eat it, but those who are waiting for a growth kick will have to sit on their hands.

Where urea has been spread, remember that it will have been absorbed, provided there was no very heavy rain shortly after spreading, and when soil temperatures rise it will give a response. Most of the BETTER farm group have, or have had, some class of stock out at this point. If we avoid major precipitation this weekend, be it snow or rain, we should see the majority of the group get more animals to grass.

This coming week will show the value of a proper close-up plan in the autumn.

Those who implemented an autumn rotation planner will have some decent covers to graze off now. However, even they need growth to pick up to make use of their nutrients and set up the farm’s grazing platform.

A decision must be made on silage ground. Normally we would have it all grazed off by the end of March and close then for cutting on 20 May. Walk your silage ground and target animals on areas with a lot of yellow material towards the bottom of the plant. In truth, cows or stores will be the only cattle you could force to graze these out well but be wary of poaching.

Elsewhere, I would actually be targeting animals towards lighter covers (7-9cm) now. We are playing catch-up on our spring rotation planner and this will speed up the first rotation.

Cathal Breen

Co Wexford

System suckler/calf to steer beef

Soil type heavy clay

Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 689

Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 0

Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 3

There is a good cover of grass around the place at the moment but unfortunately ground conditions are extremely wet so there is still no stock out yet. I had a few of last year’s weanlings out for a few days back in February but they had to be rehoused when the weather changed. I have not got out with any fertiliser yet but as soon as ground conditions allow I will go with close to a bag of urea per acre.

I am in the middle of calving at the moment and thankfully it’s going very well with no real issues to date. Thirty-four out of 60 are calved. Cows are on ad-lib silage as well as being supplemented with pre-calving minerals and I feel they are working very well as calves have great vigour at birth.

This year, I hope to rear 60 calves. We have 20 in for rearing so far and I hope to source more over the coming weeks. Thankfully there is a good stock of fodder in the yard and I should have no issues there.

Matthew Murphy

Newford Herd

System suckler to steer beef

Soil type dry to heavy

Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 738

Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 38

Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 8

We turned out 49 cows and 50 calves yesterday and hopefully we will get more out over the next few days. We have 93 cows calved with 95 calves. Calving is going well but we are getting a bit of bother with mastitis. There have been three cases so far. Bulls are weighing 45kg at birth and heifers 40kg. The average calving score so far is 1.3 (1 = unassisted, 4 = vet assistance).

We had four cases of milk fever after calving last week. These cows were treated with calcium and have responded well to treatment. All the dry cows now have access to pre-calving buckets of minerals to lick for the 10 days prior to their due date. This should reduce the number of cows who might require milk fever treatment going forward. All dry cows are still receiving 100g of a pre-calver mineral dust on top of the silage daily. Fifty calves were disbudded and received their vaccinations for IBR, clostridial disease and a treatment for the prevention of coccidiosis on Wednesday 7 March.

Glen McDermott

Co Sligo

System suckler to weanling/bull beef

Soil type free-draining loam

Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 890

Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 11

Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 7

We let 20 heifers with the vasectomised bull out to graze off silage ground. There was a cover of 1,100kg/DM/ha. These paddocks are dry and I hope to go with slurry once grazed at a rate of 2,500 gallons/acre. To reduce the demand on silage and straw bedding we let out 21 cows and 22 calves.

I put down a new surface on one of my existing roadways on the farm. This will give me greater flexibility for moving the stock and bringing cows back in for AI. All grazing ground will get a bag urea/acre as soil temperatures begin to rise.

The final batch of my under-16-month-old bulls were killed last week. Thankfully, they hit all the fat scores and carcase weights were 407kg. Only five cows are left to calve and their times are up. Calving has gone considerably well this year with no major casualties to report. I hope to tighten my calving spread and breeding will commence on 1 April as I hope to be calving my cows in January and February.

John McSweeney

Co Cork

System suckler/calf to beef

Soil type relatively dry

Farm cover (kg DM/ha) 259

Demand (kg DM/ha/day) 14

Growth (kg DM/ha/day) 11

Ground conditions are only fair at the moment. Silage is very scarce. Reducing the demand on silage and stretching the reserves for as long as possible is key at the moment. To do this, cows are out by day and in by night.

To decrease demand on silage by night, cows are fed 2kg of ration. A number of cows are very loose (dung) at the moment. I have added hay into the diet to try and dry them up. Forty-two yearlings are at grass full-time.

The average farm cover is 259kg DM/ha. This is a lot lower than I would like. I spread urea at the start of February but due to the weather conditions, growth has been extremely poor this year.

Last Friday, ground temperatures were still only 4°C around here.

Last week, another 11 acres of ground was covered with 2,500 gals/acre of slurry. There are 30 bulls aimed for finishing in May. I have increased their ration up to 10 kg/head for finishing.

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