Olivia Hynes March/April 2023 update
Grassland
- Tight grass supplies in Kilcash
- Application of slurry and fertiliser
- Silage ground closed
- Wild Bird Cover going back to grass!
Grassland
The 240 ewes were lambed in February and are and grazing the outfarm in Kilcash along with 75 hoggets. 20 units of protected urea was applied on March 1st and while there was a good response there is now a tight grass supply there. This was due to a very wet march and early April – a second round of fertiliser was not applied until the 19th of april (1 bag of 18.6.12+ S/acre). The ewe flock are all in one group and are grazing to 3.5cm.
There average farm cover is just 430kg DM/ha which is a concern. Demand is 20kgsDM/ha and growth is predicted to increase to over 45kgs/DM/day so grass availability will increase.
Pic 1- Low grass covers in Kilcash
Over 15 ha of ground has been closed for silage. This area was grazed bare and 3000gals of slurry applied using LESS on the 22nd of April. Another 70 units of N will be applied in the last week of April.
There is plenty of grass at home in Jamestown, AFC is over 700kgs by the third week of April with 16 days of grass ahead – some paddocks will be earmarked for bales.
A field that was in Wild Bird Cover under Glas for the last number years can now be reseeded. By the end of April it will be power-harrowed and tilled. A germinal grass seed mix will be used at 12kgs/acre. It will be sown with 3 bags of 10.10.20 and granulated lime.
Performance
Calving started on March 1st and there has been no major issues. The wet weather in March meant that cows and calves could not be let out. The Home farm in Jamestown is very exposed with limited shelter.
By the third week of April there are still 10 left to calve. Olivia hope to tighten the calving period into the future.
Cows and calves eventually got to grass in April and are well settled.
Farm Health & Safety
To reduce workload and due to the size of the farm, Olivia uses ½ ton bags which are delivered to the yard. Until this year , she got the load of a second tractor to lift the bags into the spreader. Olivia found that this practice was inconvenient for all parties. In March , the following frame was purchased which eliminated the need of a second tractor and the fertiliser can be loaded in a very safe manner.
