The last three weeks or so have been less than summery, but they have paved the way for good grass growth overall.

A portion of first cut silage that failed to bulk earlier on in May has done so with the recent rain, with some farmers taking the opportunity to chance their arm for hay.

Unless things heat up significantly towards the weekend, I’ve a sneaky suspicion that a lot of this will end up in a round bale with a layer of wrap around it, though some will be lucky enough to avoid this.

Though some of the quality will be lost in this later first cut, it’s important to remember that dry cow silage can’t be too high in energy, and it shouldn’t need to be.

There will be a few cows on the thinner side after weaning, but overall the dry cow period is maintenance only and silage of 68 DMD should be perfectly fine.

At the same time, second cut crops for some farmers are starting to come in.

The fact that a lot of these were cut light resulted in them greening up rapidly after, and where a healthy application of slurry and fertiliser was washed in with rain, these swards pushed on and are now at a stage where a light second cut can be whipped off them.

Ger McSweeney – Millstreet, Co Cork

I’m finishing the last of the first-cut this week. It was older pasture that I didn’t cut in May with the rest of the first-cut as it hadn’t the bulk.

It is yielding well, with 11-12 bales/acre being gotten and it will be ideal dry cow feed for the winter months. Quality silage is needed, but too high of quality in to cows before calving can lead to trouble. None of this later ground will be harvested for second-cut, with as much earlier first-cut ground taken out in bales as grazing demand allows.

Two paddocks have also been taken out in bales, yielding five bales/acre, which has helped correct the wedge. Two more paddocks, which are a little strong, will be topped post grazing.

System Suckler to weanling

Soil Type Variable

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 691

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 49

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 44

William Treacy – Hackballscross, Co Louth

We had a site of rain Thursday through to Sunday; it nearly looked like we would have to re-house some cattle with the thundery bursts it made. Now, you’d hardly know it made all that rain. Growth is excellent and keeping control of it is the challenge now. I’m through most of my heavy covers, and one paddock has been earmarked for baling this week.

I haven’t used a topper for years, but as everyone says, this is the year for one. Overall, paddocks are ok with only a few with some stem in them. I won’t panic just yet, as I’ve found in the past that if we were to get a dry July and burn up, these stemmy paddocks hold up cover. We can correct in the next rotation if needed.

System Suckler to beef

Soil Type Free draining

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 898

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 82

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 77

Jack Spillane – Tipperary Calf Farm, Co Tipperary

We’ve had a lot of rain over the last three to four weeks. Ground stalled up in the dry spell and when rain did come it all grew together. I had too much of a gap in the wedge to take out some of these paddocks in bales, so ended up grazing some heavier covers, but we are nearly through all these now. We should see growth lift in the coming days with the warmer weather.

Second-cut will be mown towards the weekend or early next week, with 20 units N/acre spread on this afterwards. We should have sufficient silage between this and some surplus without having to go for a third-cut.

Calves are all weaned and at grass now. The oldest 49 calves are off meal, with the remainder at 1.5kg/head/day.

System Dairy calf to beef

Soil Type Variable

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 627

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 40

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 54