Despite the weather conditions in recent weeks, grass growth rates have continued to be quite positive for the time of year.
Heavier than expected covers have been an issue on farms in recent weeks, which is due to grazing being delayed – but also because growth has been better than usual.
However, this is set to change over the coming days, with significant drops in growth rates predicted.
Grass growth
The latest figures from PastureBase Ireland show current growth rates of 39kg of dry matter (DM)/ha for Leinster, 40kg of DM/ha for Munster, 41kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 36kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
The outlook for the days ahead is that all areas are expected to see drops in growth rates, with some being more significant than others.
The predicted growth rates for the coming days are 33kg of DM/ha for Leinster, 32kg of DM/ha for Munster, 29kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 28kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
Taking Connacht as an example, it is predicted to see a drop in growth rates of 12kg of DM/ha in the coming days, while Leinster is going to see a reduction in growth rates of 6kg of DM/ha.
Weather
The weather is expected to pick up over the coming days and the focus should be on getting the farms grazed off.
Although it may not be possible to get all of a farm grazed off this year, a focus should be placed on getting as much grazed as possible.
This will ensure that at least some of the farm is ready for grazing early in the spring, when cow numbers are low and demand is also low.
Cull cows
Although the weather is set to improve for a couple of days, it is very much against us at this stage.
Silage is in the diet on most farms and cull cows need to be moved on.
Cull cows should be moved on now to reduce the demand on fodder, but also to save costs.
On the overall year production, only a small portion of total milk sales is produced in the coming months – meaning that hanging onto cows for milk sales alone is not worthwhile.
They should be moved off farms and the focus should be on cows that will be remaining in the herd next year.