Nitrogen: After being a bit tight for grass last week, most farmers have too much grass this week. The growth spurt, which we haven’t seen for a few years, is certainly evident now and grass is hopping out of the ground. I would be expecting growth rates in the 90-100kg/ha/day zone for the next 10-14 days.
Farmers will have to be skipping over paddocks for silage in order to keep on top of quality. In this week’s dairy pages, we take a look at nitrogen (N) fertiliser plans for the summer. Just because grass is growing well now doesn’t mean that N can be eased back. Now is the time to maximise growth, even if that means building a surplus because we need high-quality silage for feeding at the shoulders. We often see fields get hungry for N after a period of high growth and this usually corresponds to a drop in grass quality.
Based on the table on in this week’s dairy pages, most farmers will have an allowance of 26 units/ac for May (32kg N/ha), which is a lot lower than what would have been applied in the past. Given that Teagasc research is showing that clover contributes relatively little N in May, lower chemical N rates are going to be a constraint to growth. In my view, there is no choice but to reduce N to high clover paddocks in June, July and August and apply extra N to non-clover fields. Don’t forget there are no restrictions on sulphur and potash (K) and both are important for high grass growth.
Minerals: Calls are beginning to come in on mineral deficiencies, particularly phosphorus (P). It’s a few years since we have seen much pica on farms, which is the symptom of P deficiency when cows eat stones and bits of plastic. This indicates to me that it’s more of an issue when grass is growing quickly, which it hasn’t done for a few springs.
Therefore, I’d predict that we are going to see more pica over the coming weeks. There are a couple of options when it comes to supplementing with additional P. Through the meal is one option, but it is expensive and most farmers should be looking to reduce meal to minimum rates over the next few weeks. Supplementing through the water is probably the best option.
In-line dosing systems are available but when it comes to P, tipping the required amount of liquid P into the water trough morning and evening will be an effective and cheaper way of increasing P at the herd level. Unlike supplementing magnesium, where every cow needs the right amount to prevent grass tetany, P does not need to be as exact. Mineral licks are another option but check the P concentration and how much licking they need to do in order to get their requirements.
Butterfat: Another topic that always rears its head at this time of year is butterfat percentage dropping in milk. Listening to Teagasc researchers talk about it last week, after extensive research they have found that there is no real way of preventing it. According to their research, tweaking the diet has no effect on preventing butterfat percentage from dropping. They say that genetics has a bigger part to pay than diet but that the causes of butterfat drop are largely unknown.
Nitrogen: After being a bit tight for grass last week, most farmers have too much grass this week. The growth spurt, which we haven’t seen for a few years, is certainly evident now and grass is hopping out of the ground. I would be expecting growth rates in the 90-100kg/ha/day zone for the next 10-14 days.
Farmers will have to be skipping over paddocks for silage in order to keep on top of quality. In this week’s dairy pages, we take a look at nitrogen (N) fertiliser plans for the summer. Just because grass is growing well now doesn’t mean that N can be eased back. Now is the time to maximise growth, even if that means building a surplus because we need high-quality silage for feeding at the shoulders. We often see fields get hungry for N after a period of high growth and this usually corresponds to a drop in grass quality.
Based on the table on in this week’s dairy pages, most farmers will have an allowance of 26 units/ac for May (32kg N/ha), which is a lot lower than what would have been applied in the past. Given that Teagasc research is showing that clover contributes relatively little N in May, lower chemical N rates are going to be a constraint to growth. In my view, there is no choice but to reduce N to high clover paddocks in June, July and August and apply extra N to non-clover fields. Don’t forget there are no restrictions on sulphur and potash (K) and both are important for high grass growth.
Minerals: Calls are beginning to come in on mineral deficiencies, particularly phosphorus (P). It’s a few years since we have seen much pica on farms, which is the symptom of P deficiency when cows eat stones and bits of plastic. This indicates to me that it’s more of an issue when grass is growing quickly, which it hasn’t done for a few springs.
Therefore, I’d predict that we are going to see more pica over the coming weeks. There are a couple of options when it comes to supplementing with additional P. Through the meal is one option, but it is expensive and most farmers should be looking to reduce meal to minimum rates over the next few weeks. Supplementing through the water is probably the best option.
In-line dosing systems are available but when it comes to P, tipping the required amount of liquid P into the water trough morning and evening will be an effective and cheaper way of increasing P at the herd level. Unlike supplementing magnesium, where every cow needs the right amount to prevent grass tetany, P does not need to be as exact. Mineral licks are another option but check the P concentration and how much licking they need to do in order to get their requirements.
Butterfat: Another topic that always rears its head at this time of year is butterfat percentage dropping in milk. Listening to Teagasc researchers talk about it last week, after extensive research they have found that there is no real way of preventing it. According to their research, tweaking the diet has no effect on preventing butterfat percentage from dropping. They say that genetics has a bigger part to pay than diet but that the causes of butterfat drop are largely unknown.
SHARING OPTIONS