It has now been nearly four solid weeks of next to no rain. Contractors are now reporting that a good deal of first cut is complete and the rest of the month will be relatively quiet on the silage front, though many farmers are awaiting rain to get to applying slurry.

All this dry weather has also caused significant moisture stress on swards, even those in wetter areas of the country.

Sward quality is extremely variable; paddocks that were mowed or topped in early to mid-May are coming back with leafy covers, while older swards in particular are of increasingly poor quality as more and more stem creeps in.

Happily, farmers are still reporting good graze outs, even on these poorer quality swards. Growth remains very variable, and can not only be farm specific but paddock specific, with heavy soils really pushing out grass at the minute.

Farms should be walked every four to five days to establish how growth is, be it good or bad.

Where growth is well in excess of demand, and some of these stemmier swards are present, it might be beneficial to take out a portion of them as surplus silage.

It’s a delicate balancing act to try mow out surplus to maintain quality in the next round, while ensuring there’s enough grass to maintain the round.

With some rain on the forecast, the hope would be that growth will maintain or improve over the next week.

Farmers

Trevor Boland – Dromard, Co Sligo

Thanks to the weather, I mowed down 30ac of first cut silage, which has all been gathered up along with some surplus paddocks in order to get fresh grass coming on again.

Growth is quite good at the moment considering the heat we have been experiencing in recent weeks.

I will hold on until rain is forecast to get the fertiliser back onto the silage ground. It will receive a top up of P and K along with an application of protected urea to prepare it for second cut.

I am currently achieving very good clean outs, with cattle being content and thriving well. At this stage of the year, it will be important to keep an eye out for worms among the cattle.

System Suckler to beef

Soil Type Mostly dry

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 699

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 69

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 55

Willie Treacy – Hackballscross, Co Louth

I got 70 acres of first cut silage lifted at the end of May, and with the great drying conditions it was mowed and lifted the next day. It has all received slurry at a rate of 2,000-2,500 gal/ac, which has been applied through the use of a trailing shoe.

I had recently been zero grazing a paddock which had gone too strong for the cattle along with another two which are set out to be baled.

With the current warm conditions, I have had to be sacrificing grass quality and letting the cattle strip graze heavy covers to ensure they have grass ahead of them, but the cattle themselves are very content. Growth is back on what the figures show below, but if we get any bit of rain it will take off again.

System Suckler to finishing

Soil Type Free draining

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 618

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 100

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 43

John Hally – Thrive Farm, Co Tipperary

First cut was gathered up in the middle of May, but I have taken out five or six strong paddocks since then to get them back into the rotation.

The silage ground has received slurry and fertiliser, and is beginning to show nice after grass which could be grazed if I need it. Due to the intense heat, I have been pre-mowing paddocks for two lots of cattle, which has resulted in good clean outs.

I have been topping behind the rest of the cattle to achieve nice regrowth. The cattle were weighed recently to review their performance and they have done similar to previous years, with the bullocks slightly behind.

Overall, they have thrived well, with the late spring the main factor affecting weights.

System Dairy beef

Soil Type Free draining

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 839

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 70

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 43