Trevor Boland May update
Performance
Grass growth
Performance
500 round bales of silage is required for next winter. The silage will be fit for cutting in the third week of May and a DMD of 70 + will be the target. Over 12 ha will be cut. The average grass growth for the 4 weeks in May was 81kgs Dm/ha/day and there is a demand of 58kgsDM/ha/day. The days ahead have ranged from 11 to 13 which is on target of the month of May. The target Pre –grazing yield is around the 1200kgs/DM/ha and any paddock that has a heavy cover i(1600 +) s not grazed and is removed for baled silage immediately.
There is 11 paddocks with 2 days grazing in each giving a 21-22 day rotation. There has been 50 units of Nitrogen applied to date. The dry cows are grazing to 4cm so clean outs are excellent.
To reduce the amount of fertiliser into the future , clover is being incorporated into existing swards . The procedure is to graze the paddock out tightly to 4cm, spread 2 kgs of naked clover seed per acre using a grass harrow plus air spreader. There is no more fertiliser spread for the remainder of the year and the paddock is grazed tightly for the rest of the season also. Heavy Covers are avoided to allow light into the sward.
Grassland
500 round bales of silage is required for next winter. The silage will be fit for cutting in the third week of May and a DMD of 70 + will be the target. Over 12 ha will be cut. The average grass growth for the 4 weeks in May was 81kgs Dm/ha/day and there is a demand of 58kgsDM/ha/day. The days ahead have ranged from 11 to 13 which is on target of the month of May. The target Pre –grazing yield is around the 1200kgs/DM/ha and any paddock that has a heavy cover i(1600 +) s not grazed and is removed for baled silage immediately.
There is 11 paddocks with 2 days grazing in each giving a 21-22 day rotation. There has been 50 units of Nitrogen applied to date. The dry cows are grazing to 4cm so clean outs are excellent.
To reduce the amount of fertiliser into the future , clover is being incorporated into existing swards . The procedure is to graze the paddock out tightly to 4cm, spread 2 kgs of naked clover seed per acre using a grass harrow plus air spreader. There is no more fertiliser spread for the remainder of the year and the paddock is grazed tightly for the rest of the season also. Heavy Covers are avoided to allow light into the sward.