Teagasc’s Grass10 initiative kicked off around the country this week. The programme encourages farmers to target utilisation of 10t of grass dry matter per hectare and graze every paddock 10 times.

At present, the typical beef farm utilises 5t and does well to get more than five visits to a paddock yearly.

Grass in spring has a similar nutrient value per kg to rolled barley, though it is 70% cheaper.

Where poor grass managers really lose out is in the shoulders of the year. They typically don’t have enough grass to stretch into November and almost always lack the grass to get out in early- to mid-February. Every day at grass is a day less in the shed consuming expensive silage and meal.

Teagasc estimates that the daily saving translates to €2.70/hd at this time of year.

The reality is that grass management for spring 2017 began last August. However, all is not lost.

At suckler farmer David Walsh’s Grass10 farm walk, Teagasc’s Deirdre Hennessey outlined what actions a low-stocked farm – where every blade of grass was cleaned out in the back-end – could take now.

Listen to "Spring grass advice from Teagasc's Deirdre Hennessy" on Spreaker.

Mind the gates

It is important to remember that spring grazing does not mean flinging all of the gates open and letting every animal you have out to dig the farm.

In David Walsh’s case, ground is wet. He lets dairy-cross yearling heifers out first in early February.

They’re light and put little pressure on the ground. He targets them at his moderate grass covers (6cm to 8cm) as they are not experienced grazers.

The golden rule is to go tight in spring and the heifers can do this in these types of covers.

Heavier grass (>10cm) will be saved for a few weeks’ time when cows can get out and nip them to the bud. Leaving big covers is fine once there isn’t a large amount of dead material at the base of the sward.

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