Due to prolonged wet weather throughout March and into April, farms in some parts of the country have not yet managed to start grazing this spring and are now in a situation whereby they have high grass covers on areas of their farms.
Farmers with these heavy grass covers have three options: Mow it when conditions allow, graze these off, or sow fertiliser and take a cut of silage in six to eight weeks.
Where silage supplies are low, the preferred option on farms will be to get stock to these areas to graze them off as soon as conditions allow. Other farmers will be inclined to apply fertiliser (if not already done) and secure a cut of silage in May.
An option worth considering is to leave these heavy covers of grass for 10-14 more days and secure an early crop of bales, once conditions allow.
Weather
Met Éireann has forecast milder and more settled conditions to take hold early next week and with a few warm, dry and sunny days, ground conditions will improve and allow for these grass covers to be secured for winter feed.
Before making any decisions, farmers should walk their land to assess grass covers and identify if they have any paddocks which may have gotten too strong for grazing and could be marked for an early cut of silage.
Now is the time to close fields for first-cut silage and apply fertiliser (once ground conditions allow) if this has not been done already.
Remember, six weeks from today (Friday, April 14) is May 26, and eight weeks from today is June 9.
Where fertiliser is being applied for first-cut silage, the advice is to ensure the field has received 100 units of nitrogen(N) /ac from chemical fertiliser, slurry, or a mix of both.
Ideally, slurry would have been spread earlier in the spring during drier conditions in February and spreading slurry on first-cut silage ground may not be feasible at this stage due to time limits. The soil nutrient values of slurry are available here.
Farmers should consult their soil tests to see the level of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) required and remember the new rules on purchasing chemical P and K fertiliser.