When it comes to an Irish grass-based dairy system, October is one of the most important months of the year.
October is when the setting up of the farm’s grazing platform for the incoming spring begins to ensure good grass is available early in next year.
A key part of maximising grass on farms is getting cows out early in the spring and keeping them at grass late into the back end of the year.
Although weather poses the biggest challenge on farms, the focus should still be on getting the farm as well set up as possible.
October
The aim is to graze between 60-70% of the farm this month, depending on stocking rate. Highly stocked farms should be grazing closer to 70%, while lower-stocked farms should aim for 60%.
Ideally, all paddocks on the farm need to be grazed out well to encourage tillering over the winter and ensure that good-quality grass is available in spring.
Ground conditions are a challenge this year, so the focus should be on getting wetter parts of the farm grazed off in the coming days, where conditions allow.
The general rule is ‘first 30%, second 30% and final 40% remains’. The first 30% of paddocks closed this October should be the paddocks you are planning on grazing between March 1 and March 17, next spring.
The second 30% of paddocks to close this autumn should be grazed between October 20, and November 1.
These paddocks will be grazed first in the spring, and so should be the driest paddocks, with multiple access points.
The final 40% of paddocks to be closed this autumn are the paddocks that will be grazed last in the spring. These paddocks will have the poorest grazing infrastructure and/or be the silage ground.
Getting to these final 40% may be a challenge this year, which is a concern – but by the time you graze them next spring, a large amount of the herd should be calved and their appetites should have increased.
Grazing management
Weather conditions are expected to be mixed over the coming days, so getting as much of the wetter land grazed off now is advised.
You may have to accept that some areas of the farm will not be grazed again this year, but this will depend on how weather conditions materialise.
Flexibility is needed this year and although the grazing platform may not be perfectly set-up for spring 2024, you should aim to get it set-up as good as possible.
Utilise all grazing infrastructure on the farm to avoid damaging land; if paddocks are too wet they will have to be skipped and dealt with in the spring.
The first round in spring next year is going to very important to get the farm set up for the grazing season in 2024.
So you should focus on having early paddocks for spring next year ready to get cows back into grazing mode, ahead of dealing with ungrazed paddocks from the autumn.