Ruairi Cummins July/August Update 2024
Grass management plans for August
- Over sowing plans
- Building grass covers
- Fertilising for third cut silage
Fodder plans
- Bale count from 1st cut silage
- Expected yield from second cut silage
- Plans to make up the deficit
Farm maintenance
- Sheds are all power washed
- Disinfectant also applied
- Building of new crush is underway
Grassland
Ruairi plans to over sow 1 paddock with a red clover/perennial ryegrass/white clover mix. It was damaged in the spring and some docks have appeared which he has since sprayed off. He will graze it tightly with the cows and calves and then use an ion-bock to sow the seed. Watery slurry will then be spread on it at less than 2000 gallons/acre to provide P and K and help establishment. Ruairi plans to graze it at less than 1200 kg DM/ha to help the new grass to tiller out.
Figure 1: Calves are continuing to forward creep graze ahead of the cows
His attention has also been turning to building grass covers for the autumn. He will spread 23 units of protected urea/acre before mid-August to get the best response to his last round of fertiliser. Ruairi has checked his fertiliser limits to ensure he would be able to spread this amount. His aim is to have a farm cover of 700-800 kg DM/ha by mid-August with 16 to 18 days of grass ahead. Second cut silage ground will be coming back into the rotation this month to help stretch out the rotation length. He also plans to take a third cut of silage from one field and will apply 2500 gallons of slurry/acre and 38 units of protected urea/acre.
Figure 2: Graze outs from the cows are excellent
Ruairi reseeded 1 paddock on 12th May with a red clover, perennial ryegrass and white clover mix. While it took almost 6 weeks to strike, he is very pleased with the growth so far and it will be due its second grazing in the coming week. He did not apply any post-emergence spray to protect the clover in the sward and the current clover safe spray available is not suitable for red clover. However the weed burden is relatively low in the field as he sprayed the paddock off before reseeding.
Figure 3: Grass wedge on 25th July 2024
Ruairi’s latest grass measurement shows that he had a grass growth rate of 57 kg DM/ha/day in the previous 12 days. Demand is at 37 kg DM/ha/day and he has 17 days of grass ahead. 18 units of protected urea/acre was spread in early July.
Animal Nutrition
Ruairi currently has 220 bales of silage made. He has another 32 acres closed for second cut silage which would result in another 224 bales if it yields 7 bales/acre. This would give him 444 bales of silage, however he needs 560 bales according to his fodder budget for a 5 month winter. He plans to take a third cut from a 7 acre field and will be selling any cows that are not in calf. Ruairi also has the option to sell the store cattle live to reduce demand at grass and give the opportunity to make more silage.
Figure 4: Silage field which will be closed for a third cut
Health & Safety
The sheds have been power washed on Ruairi’s farm and disinfected to give them plenty of time to dry before the winter.
Figure 5: The slatted tank has been power washed
Figure 6: Freshly cleaned shed
Ruairi is also working on installing a new cattle crush which is being grant aided through TAMS. His old crush was over 20 years old and some of the poles were beginning to rust.
Figure 7: Construction work for the new crush is underway