With fine weather forecast for the week and plenty of moisture still in the ground, grass will be growing rapidly.

That means cows will be flying through the rotation within 18-20 days, and mowers will be back on the go for silage.

Despite this growth leading to surplus grass, we all know how quickly things can change so it is best to take full advantage of the grass while it is here.

That means staying on top of fertiliser application, ensuring grass has enough nutrients to keep quality forage in front of the herd.

During the mid-grazing season, it is crucial to stay on top of nitrogen (N) and nutrient inputs to try and target a total grass production of 14-15t DM/ha.

That is a difficult target to achieve, but it is possible with optimum soil fertility and proper nutrient management plans.

Fertiliser application

Now that we are well into June, farmers have the opportunity to cut back on their N application on clover paddocks.

Some farmers opt to cut their application in half for now or continue with just dairy washings for the next few weeks.

Paddocks that have an adequate sward clover content can have their N reduced from the end of April and into May.

The chemical N is then replaced by targeted dairy washings application at a rate of about 2,000gals/ac.

The target for sulphur (S) application is 15-20 units/acre before July 1 for grazing ground on dry land and 10-12 units/ac on heavy land.

There is still plenty of slurry on most farms, which will still have a big part to play throughout mid-season.

Any paddocks that have had surplus bales taken away should have slurry applied.

A general rule of thumb to follow is every three bales/ac taken off will require about 1,000gal/ac of a 6% DM slurry just to replace the phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).

Considering how late nitrogen was getting out this year, many farms were only cutting silage for the first cut last week and even this week.

In drier areas, some farms have already undertaken second-cut silage.

These fields should get diluted slurry at about 2,500gals/ac or else spread the equivalent of two bags an acre of 0:7:30 if slurry is not available.

10 days later top up these paddocks with protected urea with S; ideally you want about 60 units of N and 12 units of S/ac.