Good opportunity to complete field work while weather is good

As we move into the backend of the year the opportunities to complete field work appear less often, but the weather for now is still allowing this to happen.

The weather so far in September has been just what was needed, after what was an extremely challenging few months on many farms.

The good conditions over the last week or so and good weather forecast for the most parts of the country for most of the week, means that there is an opportunity to get some jobs done on farms.

Grass

Most farms are in the process of building average farm cover (AFC), which is being aided by the current growth rates being seen.

The aim over the next month or so is to increase the rotation length to around 40 days.

But as the weather has improved and growth rates are good there is an opportunity to correct quality in swards or removd excess grass.

Many farms are in a position where covers are getting too far ahead of where they should be and there is therefore an opportunity to remove some excess grass.

But this should only be done on paddocks where the sward is in need of correction and if you are sure there is sufficient grass to reach the targets without this paddock or paddocks.

Harvesting fodder this year has been a challenge for many, while others had to feed fodder that was harvested early in the summer during the summer months.

So to ensure that fodder supplies are plentiful for the winter ahead, if grass is available, bales can be removed to increase winter fodder supplies.

If a third cut had been planned, this may be the opportunity to harvest the crop, while the weather is in your favour.

Field work

The good weather offers a good opportunity to get any field work that needs to be completed over the coming weeks.

The final date for spreading chemical fertiliser in 2023 is September 14, which is a little over a week away.

Farmers also have until the end of the month to get slurry spread before the bad weather starts for winter 2023/24.

The ban on hedge cutting has now been lifted and while the weather and ground conditions are good, now might be a good time to get started.

Focus on hedges that are not easily accessible from either public roads or farm roadways, as they can be cut later on when weather is less favourable.

Any other field work that needs to be completed should be looked at over the coming days and weeks before the weather changes again – which it is likely to do.