Heavy rain over the last week has left many farmers happy, while there are some hoping it won’t continue as heavily as this for much longer.
Growth is up again with over two weeks since the first rain. Nitrogen spread after the last rotation has kicked in and farms are greening up.
This has brought its own challenges in maintaining quality. Grass went through a period of stress, with soil moisture deficits and lack of nutrients the main factors.
As a result, many grass plants are gone stemmy. If cows are leaving behind a lot of grass in the field, you have no option but to pre-mow it or top it after the cows.
In these paddocks, grass will be slower to come back.
The important thing is to make sure these returning paddocks are grazed at 1,400kg/DM/ha.
Some of our featured farmers this week took a risk in continuing to take paddocks out for bales and it’s paid off for them.
They have excellent quality grass coming back.
In terms of fertiliser, where clover is present, now is the time to start cutting back to half rates of nitrogen.
Another powerful tool for these paddocks is 2,500 gallons of soiled water.
In paddocks where there is a lower clover content or none at all, continue to apply 20 units/acre of protected urea + sulphur after the rotation.
Lower yields
According to contractors, silage yields are lower than in previous years. This is due to silage crops being cut that bit earlier.
Quality is going to be higher but we don’t want to end up short on feed. Calculate how much silage is in the yard and how much more will be required for winter feed.
This will give an idea if extra ground will be needed for silage, and how much nitrogen and slurry should be going out.
Walk the farm every five days to stay on top of rising growth rates.Manage grass quality. Use topping or pre-mowing if necessary.Where clover is present in swards, cut back to half rates of N (10 units/acre) or soiled water from now on.Assess the amount of silage required in the second-cut. Increase levels of nitrogen spread if necessary. Kevin Moran – Caherlistrane, Co Galway
Growth has been strong in the last week. Two weeks ago, it looked like we were heading for a drought.
We would usually hold onto some of the heavy covers if it looked like a drought was coming, but this year we have been a bit braver and have out heavy covers as bales and kept our pre-grazing yields under 1,400kg/DM/ha. We had to supplement with a small bit of palm kernel to fill a gap, but it’s paid dividends now with grass quality.
There is clover on 80% of the platform. These paddocks will just get soiled water after grazing from now on. It tested at 3-1-5 for 1,000 gallons, so we’ll be going in with 2,500 gallons/acre.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.5
Growth (kg/ha) 87
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 209
Yield (l/cow) 28
Fat % 4.63
Protein % 3.72
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2.41
Concentrates (kg/cow) 3kg
Brian McCracken – Newtownards, Co Down
We’ve had around 50mm of rain in the last ten days. Growth had slowed up to this, but it’s rising again.
We continued to make surplus bales to keep quality good, which meant supplementing with 5kg of meal. We are happy with this, as returning grass is of high quality. We start breeding here on 20 May.
We calve that bit later as it suits our grass curve and cows calve compactly. We’re 600ft above sea level, so growth kicks off later than farms seven miles down the road.
After two weeks of breeding, we have over 60% submitted so we’re happy with how it’s going.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.02
Growth (kg/ha) 49
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 193
Yield (l/cow) 27
Fat % 4.51
Protein % 3.59
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2.25
Concentrates (kg/cow) 5
Brendan Horan – Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork
The 10-year average for May rainfall here is 66mm and we received 23mm in May. Most of this came in late-May so the farm is still green, but grass quality is only fair. Growth is just above demand, so average farm cover is good.
Pre-grazing yield is 1,300kg/DM/ha and rotation length is 22 days. We may need to top some paddocks after grazing to keep quality up. This is the perennial rye-grass trial so there is no clover present in the sward.
We are applying 23 units/acre of protected urea after the rotation. Cows have produced 242kg of milk solids off 340kg of meal year to date.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.5
Growth (kg/ha) 42kg
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 190
Yield (l/cow) 21.2
Fat % 5
Protein % 3.8
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.9
Concentrates 3
Heavy rain over the last week has left many farmers happy, while there are some hoping it won’t continue as heavily as this for much longer.
Growth is up again with over two weeks since the first rain. Nitrogen spread after the last rotation has kicked in and farms are greening up.
This has brought its own challenges in maintaining quality. Grass went through a period of stress, with soil moisture deficits and lack of nutrients the main factors.
As a result, many grass plants are gone stemmy. If cows are leaving behind a lot of grass in the field, you have no option but to pre-mow it or top it after the cows.
In these paddocks, grass will be slower to come back.
The important thing is to make sure these returning paddocks are grazed at 1,400kg/DM/ha.
Some of our featured farmers this week took a risk in continuing to take paddocks out for bales and it’s paid off for them.
They have excellent quality grass coming back.
In terms of fertiliser, where clover is present, now is the time to start cutting back to half rates of nitrogen.
Another powerful tool for these paddocks is 2,500 gallons of soiled water.
In paddocks where there is a lower clover content or none at all, continue to apply 20 units/acre of protected urea + sulphur after the rotation.
Lower yields
According to contractors, silage yields are lower than in previous years. This is due to silage crops being cut that bit earlier.
Quality is going to be higher but we don’t want to end up short on feed. Calculate how much silage is in the yard and how much more will be required for winter feed.
This will give an idea if extra ground will be needed for silage, and how much nitrogen and slurry should be going out.
Walk the farm every five days to stay on top of rising growth rates.Manage grass quality. Use topping or pre-mowing if necessary.Where clover is present in swards, cut back to half rates of N (10 units/acre) or soiled water from now on.Assess the amount of silage required in the second-cut. Increase levels of nitrogen spread if necessary. Kevin Moran – Caherlistrane, Co Galway
Growth has been strong in the last week. Two weeks ago, it looked like we were heading for a drought.
We would usually hold onto some of the heavy covers if it looked like a drought was coming, but this year we have been a bit braver and have out heavy covers as bales and kept our pre-grazing yields under 1,400kg/DM/ha. We had to supplement with a small bit of palm kernel to fill a gap, but it’s paid dividends now with grass quality.
There is clover on 80% of the platform. These paddocks will just get soiled water after grazing from now on. It tested at 3-1-5 for 1,000 gallons, so we’ll be going in with 2,500 gallons/acre.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.5
Growth (kg/ha) 87
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 209
Yield (l/cow) 28
Fat % 4.63
Protein % 3.72
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2.41
Concentrates (kg/cow) 3kg
Brian McCracken – Newtownards, Co Down
We’ve had around 50mm of rain in the last ten days. Growth had slowed up to this, but it’s rising again.
We continued to make surplus bales to keep quality good, which meant supplementing with 5kg of meal. We are happy with this, as returning grass is of high quality. We start breeding here on 20 May.
We calve that bit later as it suits our grass curve and cows calve compactly. We’re 600ft above sea level, so growth kicks off later than farms seven miles down the road.
After two weeks of breeding, we have over 60% submitted so we’re happy with how it’s going.
Stocking Rate (cow/ha) 3.02
Growth (kg/ha) 49
Average Farm Cover (kg/cow) 193
Yield (l/cow) 27
Fat % 4.51
Protein % 3.59
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 2.25
Concentrates (kg/cow) 5
Brendan Horan – Teagasc Curtins, Co Cork
The 10-year average for May rainfall here is 66mm and we received 23mm in May. Most of this came in late-May so the farm is still green, but grass quality is only fair. Growth is just above demand, so average farm cover is good.
Pre-grazing yield is 1,300kg/DM/ha and rotation length is 22 days. We may need to top some paddocks after grazing to keep quality up. This is the perennial rye-grass trial so there is no clover present in the sward.
We are applying 23 units/acre of protected urea after the rotation. Cows have produced 242kg of milk solids off 340kg of meal year to date.
Stocking rate (LU/ha) 2.5
Growth (kg/ha) 42kg
Average farm cover (kg/cow) 190
Yield (l/cow) 21.2
Fat % 5
Protein % 3.8
Milk Solids (kg/cow) 1.9
Concentrates 3
SHARING OPTIONS