Weekly monitoring farm grass covers is an essential part of good grassland management at this time of year, according to PastureBase Ireland (PBI), which has recently undergone significant change.

Teagasc set up PastureBase Ireland as a web-based grassland measurement database for farmers.

It merged with AgriNet Grass as part of a “strategic step forward for Irish farmers in grassland management”.

While acknowledging that this is a significant change for AgriNet Grass users, it will be of benefit to all grassland farmers in Ireland, according to Teagasc.

Currently PBI is undergoing a number of developments to make it more “farmer-friendly”. The objective in the long term is to make PBI much better with new added tools.

The new app will speed up data entry for farmers out in the field, organisers say.

Both Teagasc and AgriNet Grass have expressed gratitude to participating farmers for their patience in getting the migration process completed; the new data protection regulations held up this process at different stages.

The recent release of the projected wedge and planner – and expected unveiling of the offline app in the next few days – “should greatly aid farmers in the recording of grass covers, graze dates, fertiliser application and milk data offline”, according to Teagasc.

The use of the offline app was probably underestimated in the development of PBI; many farmers use this tool and it clearly highlights the lack of good internet access on many farms.

PastureBase Ireland has a dedicated help desk where there are a number of tutorial videos available on how to use different options. For those interested, more information is available on the PastureBase Ireland website.