Grass surplus for some, but deficit for others
The rain has returned and temperatures have dropped significantly particularly at night.
Hopefully we will see a return to more normal temperatures in the coming week.
It’s amazing how quickly grass growth takes off when air and soil temperatures rise.
It’s not surprising that grass took off in the fine spell, as most farmers had plenty of nitrogen out, trying to boost growth during the spring.
Much of it was just sitting there ready for take-off, once conditions improved.
Many have reported growth rates of 60 kg of dry matter per hectare or more over the last week.
However, some are still in a grass deficit situation, particularly if turnout was early and stocking rates are high.
As a very basic rule of thumb, you need 10-11 days of grass ahead of you, on any one day.
If you don’t have 10-11 days of grass ahead of you, then supplementation of stock with concentrates is still necessary.
The major issue for most is that, during March, when growth was only average during the first rotation, a lot of paddocks ended up having very similar covers when growth improved.
This has resulted in a large number of paddocks having the same or very similar covers.
But you can’t graze them all on the one day.
It is important to try and graze appropriate covers in order to maintain quality and optimise animal performance.
For many in this situation they will need to bale surplus ASAP, in order to maintain quality swards ahead of the cattle.
For most farmers, ground conditions are now perfect.
Any repair of swards necessary should be done while soil conditions are good.
A huge amount of reseeding has been done around the country this spring, it always pays for itself, so make it a priority, where you are dealing with under-performing swards.
What are ideal grazing covers?
Many factors need to be taken into consideration when identifying the ideal cover for your farm.
Every farm is slightly different.
You have to consider stocking rate, paddock size, land conditions, soil fertility, reseeding strategy, weather conditions, growth rates achieved, the time of year, and the type of stock being grazed.
Typically, however, covers between 1,200 and 1,500 kg of dry matter per ha would be an acceptable range.
The breeding season is now heading into its second month on most spring suckler herds.
Make sure that you have good records for heat detection, in order to identify non-cycling cows as early as possible.
Many suckler farmers are now following their dairy neighbours in scanning their cows.
Scanning cows at this stage will help to tighten up the calving pattern and identify cows needing intervention.
With the recent cold spell, particularly at night, there is now a heightened risk of grass tetany in suckler cows.
Make sure that you have ample cover for magnesium in your herd.
The most effective methods are administration through water and provision of high-magnesium mineral licks in paddocks.
Watch out for the warning signs within a herd.
If cows isolate themselves from the herd, and show any signs of staggers, intervene straight away.
