Signpost: The drought and hot weather really did affect grass quality

Farmer Peadar O'Driscoll with dry cows on the farm in West Cork.  Cows are currently getting 6 kg of meal and 12 kg of grass. Picture: Denis Minihane

Now that we have gotten a decent amount of rain and more to come I will be keeping a close eye on grass growth and watching for when the bounce of grass will come so I can reduce the level of supplementary feed the cows are getting. 

Cows are currently getting 6 kg of meal and 12 kg of grass. I was fortunate to keep the cows on grass and meal during the drought period. I had to zero graze three loads of grass from an outblock, where the heifers are, to try and stretch the grass on the grazing platform until the silage ground that was cut for first cut was fit to be grazed. Each load of zero grazing lasted three days and cows had access to this before and after milking.