Dermot Walsh: Planning ahead for slurry spreading and spring reseeding

Dermot Walsh measures grass growth with a plate meter on his farm at Currihy, Lisevane, Timoleague, Co. Cork. Picture: David Creedon

It’s that time of year when I start to look at the nutrient management plan and decide what fertiliser goes where for the spring and the rest of the year. 

My soil samples were taken in January, and I am pretty happy with my results. I took 33 soil samples because I have 33 paddocks. This gave me the best reading for each individual paddock. 

I have 65% of my farm optimal for pH, P and K. I will be spreading lime on any fields that need lime and on my reseeding ground. 

I have gone with 46% protected urea for the first round of fertiliser. All ground has around 60-65 units except the ground I am currently grazing. Ground currently being grazed has about 50 units of slurry or chemical N out on it. Any fields low for P and K have been given a bag and a half of 18-6-12.

Any ground that didn’t get slurry has received about 65 units of chemical nitrogen, one bag of 46% NBPT protected UREA and a bag and a half of 18-6-12. I have found NBPT protected UREA to work slower than the ordinary UREA. I spread once a week now instead of every 10-14 days as before.

I am lucky enough to be able to graze my silage ground. I spread 3,000 gallons/acre on this ground after it was grazed. I spread 40 units of nitrogen early in the year before it was grazed. 

I reckon there are still 36 units of nitrogen available. I hope to spread a bag and a half of 38% protected urea and Sulphur on this silage ground.

I have no definite date for starting the second rotation. I follow my spring rotation planner. My first few paddocks grazed got trailing shoe slurry, and it has been dry since. I might skip these paddocks in the second rotation.

I have about 11 acres across the road, which I will save for silage. This makes up 30% of my silage ground.

I am thinking about reseeding a bit of red clover silage before the end of April. I have a bit of silage left over in the yard from the winter, which will give me a bit of a buffer to get that ground reseeded.

I completed a grass walk on April 7, and I have taken three paddocks out of my cover for silage. This has given me a demand of 28kg DM/ha/day. Growth is at 34kg DM/ha/day. I predict this to increase over the next week, with temperatures set to increase.

Cows have a total intake of 18kg DM, this is coming from 10kg grass, 6kg meal and 2kg silage. From this week onwards, I will be looking to drop back the meal to 4kg, I will keep the 2kg DM of silage and I will increase grass intake.

My first grazed paddocks are at around 1,100-1,200 kg/DM/ha. If there is a burst of growth next week, then I will take silage from these paddocks.

• Dermot and Linda Walsh are farming in Lislevane, Bandon with their children Tadgh, Aoife, Maebh and Eoin. They milk 84 cows supplying Barryroe Co-op.