Trevor Boland March/April 2023
Grassland
- A difficult March for grazing
- Growth rates and ground conditions recover at the of April
- Silage ground closed on April 8th
- Tight for grass at home but the outfarm is on track
Grassland
Even by Sligo’s standards , the rain in March and early April was unprecedented. Ground conditions were very poor having an autumn calving system meant that calves could be weaned and let out to grass. The cows are not priority stock at this time of year – breeding has also ceased also. The weanlings become priority and Trevor managed to keep them out on grass during this period. They grazed off the silage fields which are dry.
On the home-block, a bag of Nutrigrass was applied per acre (20.4.4.0) on April 4th. Due to the poor weather , growth was slow at 2-4kgs/DM/day in March. However, over the last 3 weeks of April , growth as picked up to 53kgs/Dm/ha/day. There are over 50 dry cows on this block giving a demand of 55kgs/Dm?head/day , so growth is eventually equalling demand. Average farm cover remains low at 373kgs/DM/ha but that won’t concern Trevor too much on this block as the cows will be calving in Autumn and need to be restricted over the summer or they will put on too much condition.
Below the last grass wedge of April which highlights the low AFC . There are only 7 days of grass ahead but this will increase as weather has improved in the last week of April.
Silage: As the herd calves in Autumn, making high quality silage by cutting in May is essential. Despite the poor weather , Trevor managed to get slurry out on the silage ground on the 5th of April at 2500gals/acre . This was followed by 2.5bags of 30.0.0 +8S/acre.
The grassland story is better on the outfarm in Skreen. Average farm cover has increased since mid-April to 731kgs/Dm/ha. This outfarm got just over a bag/acre of Nutrigrass 20.4.4.0 +S on the 4th of April. Growth is now meeting demand and there is 19days ahead – target is 14 at the beginning of May. The land in Skreen is dry and the cattle have been grazing here since late March.
Performance
Trevor weights the weanlings on a regular basis. The heifers were weighed on March 4th and on the April 22nd. The average weight for the heifers in the March weighing was 228kgs giving a ADG of 0.91kgs since birth. The weighing on April 22nd showed an average weight of 249gs. They gained 0.59kgs per day since the last weighing and now have a ADG of 0.85kgs since birth. The transition from indoors to outdoors on grass probably affected performance between the 2 last weighings.
The males were weighed on March 4th and on the 22nd of April. The average weight in March was 228kgs and this increased to 249kgs in April. The April weighing highlighted an ADG of 0.85kgs since birth. This is below target but similar to the heifers , the bulls were weaned and let to grass full-time during this period which probably affected performance. The next weighing in May should show an improvement.
