With fodder shortages and grazing systems under pressure, one could be forgiven for ditching normal grazing plans and maximising silage cutting for the month of September to fill fodder deficits.
However, if the length of the winter can be reduced by getting stock out early next spring, this could help reduce fodder requirements for the coming winter. Early grazing will also increase weight gains and reduce feed costs. Grazing a 350kg weanling next March will cost €0.70/day while feeding the same animal indoors will cost €1.85/day, based on 5kg DM of silage and 2kg of ration being fed daily.
The same animal is capable of putting on 1kg LWG/day at grass while it will struggle to gain 0.6-0.7kg/day indoors so it makes sense to put plans in place now to get animals out early next spring.
Getting stock out early isn’t just a matter of opening the shed door next March and hoping for the best. You need to put in place plans this autumn for this to be successful.
Autumn objectives
There are two main objectives to managing autumn grass on a beef farm:
You need to provide enough grass for grazing animals on your farm. This means maintaining quality in swards and having the required quantity of grass on the farm to feed all stock.You also need to be thinking about building grass covers for early grazing next spring. In a normal year, the entire farm is available for grazing from mid-August onwards. This year may be a little different as some farms have closed again for third-cut silage. This will have implications for closing up and more nitrogen will need to be spread on the grazing block to boost growth and grass supplies. Spreading fertiliser in September will have a greater response than nitrogen applied in October. Feeding concentrates at grass will help to reduce demand at grass and help to build covers if grass is managed correctly. As grass growth rates drop, you need to ensure that there is enough grass being grown in September to keep animals grazing during October. It is the grass that is grown in the coming months that will be grazed next spring.
The 60:40 autumn grass planner
Teagasc has developed a tool for autumn grassland management. This is a calculator which dictates how much you need to graze daily to have 60% of the farm closed by a certain date and when you should have the remaining 40% grazed by. For example on a 100-acre farm, if you want to have 60 acres grazed by 1 November, the aim is to start closing paddocks from 10 October onwards (one/two weeks earlier in wet areas). Aim to have 60% farm closed by the end of the first week of November (1-2 weeks earlier in wet areas). The paddocks grazed by this date will have a chance to grow grass before growth rates decline in November. Table 1 outlines the autumn grassland planner and dates can be input for your farm to determine what area needs to be grazed on a weekly basis over the next six to eight weeks.
Autumn grassland management tips
Rotation length needs to increase to 35 days or more by mid-September.This can be achieved by increasing grass supply through spreading fertiliser, reducing demand by concentrate feeding eg finishing animals or through bringing second- or third-cut silage fields back into the grazing rotation to increase days ahead.If you think this target isn’t going to be met, blanket spread the farm with on bag of CAN per acre by 15 September if possible. The earlier this is spread, the better the response will be.Pre-grazing yields can increase to 2,500kg DM/ha in autumn as grass will not go to seed and the leaf will be very digestible. This allows farm cover build up as rotation will be slower.The highest average farm cover should be in mid-September.The last rotation should commence in early to mid-October so every paddock grazed beyond this date should be closed. Aim to close the driest paddocks first as these will be the first paddocks that will be grazed next spring.Aim to graze tight in the last rotation, down to 5cm.The average farm cover should be around 500kgDM/ha at housing in November.Once fields are closed, don’t be tempted to go back in for a quick graze as this as this will reduce your chance of early grazing next spring.On a dry farm aim to have two-thirds of the farm closed by the 1 November and also aim to have everything closed by 1 December.Prepare to be flexible, aim to graze wet areas during dry periods and dry areas during wet weather.Feeding finishing animals high levels of meal indoors could be an option if weather conditions dictate.
With fodder shortages and grazing systems under pressure, one could be forgiven for ditching normal grazing plans and maximising silage cutting for the month of September to fill fodder deficits.
However, if the length of the winter can be reduced by getting stock out early next spring, this could help reduce fodder requirements for the coming winter. Early grazing will also increase weight gains and reduce feed costs. Grazing a 350kg weanling next March will cost €0.70/day while feeding the same animal indoors will cost €1.85/day, based on 5kg DM of silage and 2kg of ration being fed daily.
The same animal is capable of putting on 1kg LWG/day at grass while it will struggle to gain 0.6-0.7kg/day indoors so it makes sense to put plans in place now to get animals out early next spring.
Getting stock out early isn’t just a matter of opening the shed door next March and hoping for the best. You need to put in place plans this autumn for this to be successful.
Autumn objectives
There are two main objectives to managing autumn grass on a beef farm:
You need to provide enough grass for grazing animals on your farm. This means maintaining quality in swards and having the required quantity of grass on the farm to feed all stock.You also need to be thinking about building grass covers for early grazing next spring. In a normal year, the entire farm is available for grazing from mid-August onwards. This year may be a little different as some farms have closed again for third-cut silage. This will have implications for closing up and more nitrogen will need to be spread on the grazing block to boost growth and grass supplies. Spreading fertiliser in September will have a greater response than nitrogen applied in October. Feeding concentrates at grass will help to reduce demand at grass and help to build covers if grass is managed correctly. As grass growth rates drop, you need to ensure that there is enough grass being grown in September to keep animals grazing during October. It is the grass that is grown in the coming months that will be grazed next spring.
The 60:40 autumn grass planner
Teagasc has developed a tool for autumn grassland management. This is a calculator which dictates how much you need to graze daily to have 60% of the farm closed by a certain date and when you should have the remaining 40% grazed by. For example on a 100-acre farm, if you want to have 60 acres grazed by 1 November, the aim is to start closing paddocks from 10 October onwards (one/two weeks earlier in wet areas). Aim to have 60% farm closed by the end of the first week of November (1-2 weeks earlier in wet areas). The paddocks grazed by this date will have a chance to grow grass before growth rates decline in November. Table 1 outlines the autumn grassland planner and dates can be input for your farm to determine what area needs to be grazed on a weekly basis over the next six to eight weeks.
Autumn grassland management tips
Rotation length needs to increase to 35 days or more by mid-September.This can be achieved by increasing grass supply through spreading fertiliser, reducing demand by concentrate feeding eg finishing animals or through bringing second- or third-cut silage fields back into the grazing rotation to increase days ahead.If you think this target isn’t going to be met, blanket spread the farm with on bag of CAN per acre by 15 September if possible. The earlier this is spread, the better the response will be.Pre-grazing yields can increase to 2,500kg DM/ha in autumn as grass will not go to seed and the leaf will be very digestible. This allows farm cover build up as rotation will be slower.The highest average farm cover should be in mid-September.The last rotation should commence in early to mid-October so every paddock grazed beyond this date should be closed. Aim to close the driest paddocks first as these will be the first paddocks that will be grazed next spring.Aim to graze tight in the last rotation, down to 5cm.The average farm cover should be around 500kgDM/ha at housing in November.Once fields are closed, don’t be tempted to go back in for a quick graze as this as this will reduce your chance of early grazing next spring.On a dry farm aim to have two-thirds of the farm closed by the 1 November and also aim to have everything closed by 1 December.Prepare to be flexible, aim to graze wet areas during dry periods and dry areas during wet weather.Feeding finishing animals high levels of meal indoors could be an option if weather conditions dictate. 
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