Grass growth remains positive, with growth rates in the high-teens and low-twenties predicted for the coming days by PastureBase Ireland.
However, although the growth is good, the change in weather over the recent weeks has slowed down and in some cases halted grazing on some farms completely.
This pulled some farms back in terms of grazing targets, and with some farms well ahead of the target before the change in weather, is not entirely a bad thing.
Being ahead of target is a positive thing and shows the excellent weather we had in the early stages of the year, however it poses a risk that farms may run short of grass in the second rotation if they got too far ahead of target.
Grass growth
PastureBase Ireland is showing current growth rates of 15kg of dry matter (DM)/ha for Leinster, 16kg of DM/ha for Munster, 13kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 9kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
Although wet weather has hampered grazing for many, there is an increase in growth rates expected, with 22kg of DM/ha predicted for Leinster, 22kg of DM/ha for Munster, 19kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 16kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
Grazing
Over the last number of days some herds have been able to return to grazing, however not everyone has been so fortunate.
Although for many, ground conditions are still challenging, the aim should still be to get cows out where possible – even for a short amount of time.
Dairy farmers are well used to on/off grazing, which is when cows are let out to graze for a short period, before returning to the shed.
Where possible this should be done on farms, even if it is only for a couple of hours/day at the start.
Remember: Every time the cows get out grazing that is less silage that has to be fed.
The advice remains to make good use of the grazing infrastructure on farms, and to use spur roadways and back fences.
Farmers should be asking ‘how long’ their cows can be out for, rather than ‘can they go out’. With that said, cows should not be put out if damage is being caused.