Grass growth rates are expected to drop again in the next few days, with growth predicted to drop into single figures.
Up until this week, growth in most areas had been quite good, with growth rates holding in the high teens and low 20’s. Growth rates are not crucial currently due to many herds already being housed, while many others are finishing the final rotation.
It is interesting to see just how long growth hung on in the back end of the year, which may result in some heavy opening covers come spring.
Grass growth
The current grass growth rates, based on figures from PastureBase Ireland, are 19kg of dry matter (DM)/ha in Leinster; 18kg of DM/ha in Munster; 19kg of DM/ha in Connacht; and 16kg of DM/ha in Ulster.
These figures shows that there was very little reduction in grass growth from the previous week to this week.
A decrease in growth is predicted though with 11kg of DM/ha for Leinster; 9kg of DM/ha for Munster; 7kg of DM/ha for Connacht; and 10kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
Grazing
In some parts of the country the grazing of cows is continuing with nearly all farms using on/off grazing and generally it is only taking place during the day.
Where grazing is still taking place, it is important that you continue to use the grazing infrastructure on your farm and avoid causing damage to land. For the most part, it appears that farmers are very much on day by day and paddock by paddock basic.
Although getting through the paddocks is important, it should not be at the cost of damaging land.
Damaging land at this time of year will have a significant impact on that paddock’s grass cover in early spring next year.
Anyone still grazing will be hoping to continue until they have reached the final paddock in the rotation. But once this paddock has been reached , it is important that you stop grazing and fully house for the winter months.