As of late, grass growth on farms hasn’t been the issue. For most farmers, the issue has been actually getting cows out to grass.
Storm Noa moved across the country earlier this week and resulted in significant amounts of rain falling in a short period of time.
This forced most farmers to house cows and any youngstock that had been turned out to grass.
Grass growth
Grass growth in general has been good and based on the latest figures from PastureBase Ireland, current growth rates are showing 34kg of dry matter (DM)/ha for Leinster, 31kg of DM/ha for Munster, 30kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 23kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
With the weather set to improve over the coming days, a boost in growth is expected to occur with predicted growth rates for Leinster being 52kg of DM/ha, 43kg of DM/ha for Munster, 43kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 47kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
With growth surpassing 50kg of DM/ha in some areas, it appears that the magic day – when growth surpasses demand – is nearing.
Bright side
The weather forecast for the coming weeks looks good, with warmer, drier weather ahead, which will hopefully mean a more normal grazing season for farms can begin.
The grazing season for 2023 started well with exceptional conditions being experienced in February, but conditions deteriorated in March.
As we now move into mid-April, conditions look set to improve again and just in time for most, as the focus on dairy farms moves towards the breeding season and the harvesting of first-cut silage.
Although good weather looks to be coming it is important to continue to use good grazing management practices and protect ground conditions.
Land is likely to be tender for another couple of weeks as it continues to dry out from the wet weather that we have experienced recently.