The second rotation has begun on a number of farms, but slow grass growth rates remain an issue on many dairy farms.

The start of the second rotation usually means that the use of strip grazing can be reduced on farms, but that is not the case for many this year.

Second rotation

Slower grass growth has meant that many farmers are grazing lower covers than is ideal, which means herds will go through a larger area quicker.

Because of this, it is important that you continue to monitor growth and demand on your farm and slow down your cows if required.

Introducing high-quality silage may be required to slow your cows down and ensure that they don’t go through grass too quickly.

It is important to get the balance right between maximising grass in the diet, maintaining production and hitting residual.

Ideally, you want to be entering covers of with a pre-grazing yield of between 1,300kg dry matter (DM)/ha to 1,500kg DM/ha – but for many this is not the case.

If you work through your second rotation too quickly, it is likely you will be short again at the start of the third rotation.

With that said, hitting residual is also important during the second rotation to set your farm up for future rotation. It is often said that the battle can be won or lost in April.

Importance of reaching residuals:

  • To avoid wasting grass;
  • To avoid poor-quality grass in subsequent rotations;
  • To avoid ‘topping’;
  • To maximise intakes;
  • To maximise milk production.

Grass growth

According to PastureBase Ireland, growth rates are currently 31kg DM/ha in Leinster, 29kg DM/ha in Munster, 29kg DM/ha in Connacht and 25kg DM/ha in Ulster.

For many farms, this is behind demand.

Growth rates are expected to improve over the coming days with 43kg DM/ha in Leinster, 37kg DM/ha in Munster, 35kg DM/ha in Connacht and 45kg DM/ha in Ulster forecast.

It is important that you continue to monitor the grass situation and complete a grass walk every five to seven days.

You can’t manage what you don’t measure, so measuring and monitoring grass growth is important over coming days.