Conditions have been excellent over the last seven days. On drier farms, turnout commenced before the weekend and at this stage there should be a significant number of stock out.

On wetter farms, good drying conditions over the weekend and early in the week should facilitate turnout of stock now too.

Remember to keep prioritising stock at turnout. As outlined last week, early-calved suckler cows should be getting to grass as they approach peak lactation.

Another group to prioritise is breeding females. Any heifers you plan to breed in April should be getting to grass this week.

A rising plane of nutrition achieved via fresh grass will help with the onset of oestrus and subsequently improve conception rates.

Where cattle have grazed, regrowths are very good, particularly on ground that received early nitrogen

The good thing about these heifers is they are relatively light on their feet too, making them suitable for wetter ground.

Thanks to the milder temperatures and increased sunshine, growth rates are creeping up steadily too.

The national average is 18kg DM/ha/day, with counties in Munster leading the way on 21kg DM/ha/day.

However, many farmers are witnessing huge variances in growth rates on grazed ground versus non-grazed ground. Where cattle have grazed, regrowths are very good, particularly on ground that received early nitrogen.

A lot of farmers around the country are struggling to get this grazed quickly enough

On the flip side, ground that has not been touched since autumn closing has more or less stalled. This needs to be grazed as soon as possible to bring it to life for 2019.

Stock should be making their way through silage ground at this stage as most two-cut farms plan to close first-cut silage ground in early April.

A lot of farmers around the country are struggling to get this grazed quickly enough. I would be looking at heavily stocking this ground for a week or two to get it grazed.

At the same time, this will allow you to strip the grazing platform for two weeks which will significantly boost covers prior to the second rotation. If there is still not going to be enough time or stock, not grazing some ground and targeting an early May cutting date is an alternative.

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Grass+: growth four times better than last year