Silage out as growth recovers on Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farms
After a prolonged dry spell, recent rainfall and mild temperatures have resulted in a recovery in the grass growth rates being recorded on the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farms.
Providing an update on the performance of the enrolled farms, Sandra Hayes, Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Programme Co-Ordinator, noted that the average growth rates across the 10 farms stood at 77kg DM/ha/day for the week ending June 30th.
At an average demand of 54kg DM/ha/day and the average farm cover across the group increasing by 84kg DM/ha – climbing to 717kg DM/ha – this means that silage has been pulled from the diet across the farms. In terms of mid-season grazing targets, an average farm cover of 600-700kg DM/ha is desired at a cover per cow of 160-180kg DM/cow.
With both of these targets being achieved on all of the farms involved, the harvesting of surplus bales across the milking platforms is commencing. The harvesting of these bales not only serves to ensure cows are entering paddocks at the correct pre-grazing cover, it also gives the opportunity to correct grass quality.
Table 1: Grass performance on the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farms
| Farmer |
Growth (kg DM/ha/day) |
Demand (kg DM/ha/day) |
Average Farm Cover (kg DM/ha) |
Meal (kg/cow/day) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donal Kavanagh | 63 | 54 | 748 | 4 |
| Francis Nolan | 71 | 45 | 653 | 3 |
| Jack Kearney | 82 | 60 | 633 | 3 |
| John Ryan | 79 | 74 | 749 | 4 |
| Kevin Murphy | 92 | 32 | 722 | 6 |
| Mullen Farm (winter milk) | 75 | 46 | 751 | 3.5 |
| Shane Fitzgerald | 75 | 67 | 817 | 1.5 |
| Shay Ryan | 105 | 69 | 801 | 3.5 |
| Steven Fitzgerald | 62 | 44 | 628 | 2.5 |
| Tom Fennelly | 69 | 53 | 672 | 3 |
| Average (30/06/2023) | 77 | 54 | 717 | 3 |
| Average (24/06/2023) | 52 | 51 | 633 | 3.8 |
Farmer Update – Shane Fitzgerald
Sandra also provided an update on Shane Fitzgerald’s farm in Portlaw, Co. Waterford, which she visited on June 29th. Cows were grazing a multispecies sward, established on May 15th, at the time of the visit. To encourage tillering and clover establishment, this sward was being grazed at a cover of 800kg DM/ha. Shane has reseeded 7ha of the milking platform with multispecies this year, which means he has 20% of the milking platform under multispecies swards. This area receives no chemical nitrogen, only dairy washings and slurry. Fertiliser is being spread on the perennial ryegrass swards at a rate of 0.8 units/day, using protected urea with sulphur.
As part of the visit, a fodder budget for 2023/2024 was also completed, with the farm having over 50% of the requirements for a 4.5 month winter. Second-cut silage and surplus bales will fill this deficit and allow for the creation of a winter feed surplus.
Breeding involved 100% AI use this year. The farm now has collars for heat detection and this has greatly reduced the amount of labour during the breeding season. In terms of animal treatments, the first lactation cows were treated with Epizero, as they were the only cows coughing. The policy on this farm is to only treat animals that require and a move has been made away from broad-spectrum herd treatments.
For more information on the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Programme, click here.