Growth this week is over 20% above normal for the time of year, owing to the warm weather conditions.

It’s almost surprising, considering that it can get quite chilly at night time, with some farmers also reporting that growth on recently grazed ground is very slow.

The high growth rates are only really being witnessed in paddocks with a cover on them already.

Where growth is well in excess of demand, as it is for a lot of dairy farms at the moment and with growth figures in the 80s, taking out paddocks now will prevent farm cover becoming too heavy and grass being wasted through going to stem.

Long-term silage

If you are not too confident about how your growth will be in a prolonged dry spell, then earmark a smaller area for long-term silage and mow in three or four weeks.

If a pinch comes in growth between now and then, this can be grazed to get you out of bother.

It won’t look pretty and won’t be of high quality, but is a cheaper option and less embarrassing than making bales one week and feeding the same ones out the following week.

Pre-mowing the sward before grazing will help reduce wastage and clean off the grass nicely.

With some rainfall forecast at the weekend, it’s a good time to top up any paddocks with fertiliser for maximum N efficiency.

Slurry

The weather has been excellent for some early first-cut silage, but a word of warning needs to be issued with regard to slurry going back out for second cut.

The warm, dry weather with the breeze we have seen of late is not at all ideal for slurry to go back out, especially with LESS.

Try to have slurry as watery as possible, do not spread at excessive rates and try to time application close to some light rainfall. Injecting slurry is also another option.