Grass growth rates are in a good position and good weather over the last few days has improved grazing conditions – but that looks set to change again.
As we move into late August and the autumn months, grass growth is naturally going to slow down on farms.
Because of this, average farm cover (AFC) needs to be increased to ensure that grass is available for grazing during the autumn.
But for now, growth rates appear to be holding strong, with the good weather over the last week likely aiding this.
Although heavy rain is forecast for most of the country today, it will hopefully have little impact on growth.
But it could impact on grazing conditions, so it is important that cows are checked to ensure that damage is not being caused.
Grass growth
The latest figures from PastureBase Ireland show current growth rates of 57kg of dry matter (DM)/ha for Leinster, 57kg of DM/ha for Munster, 56kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 47kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
A slight increase is expected is most areas, while there is a decrease expected for Connacht.
Predicted growth rates are 64kg of DM/ha for Leinster, 60kg of DM/ha for Munster, 52kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 57kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
Sward quality
As we moved into late August if there are any paddocks where the quality of the sward is low, now is the time to correct them.
Ideally, the best option to correct these paddocks is to mow and bale them – but for some this may not be an option.
But if there is a surplus of grass available and paddocks need to be reset, then doing that in the form of bales in the preferred option.
However, if no surplus of grass is available, then you may need to top these paddocks before you enter into the autumn grazing rotation.