Closing up the farm this autumn
The two objectives of autumn grassland management are to keep grass in diet of the grazing animal and to close up the farm to have grass available in spring.
As part of its weekly newsletter, the Teagasc Grass10 team offered the following advice:
- Good growth rates, particularly in the northern half of the country, along with good grazing conditions, have resulted in average farm cover (AFC) holding at close to 800kg DM/ha.
- This week you should have between 15-30% of your farm closed, depending on soil type. Some lower stocked drystock farms should begin closing this week.
- The aim on dry farms is to have close to 70% of the farm closed by 1st November, and heavy soils over 80%. For a 30ha farm, this means grazing 20ha (66%) in 25 days, i.e. 0.80ha/day or 5.5ha/week.
- On dairy farms where spring grass supply is a priority, farmers should aim for an average farm cover of >700 kg DM/ha on the 1st of December. Every week delay in closing reduces spring grass supply over 100kg DM/ha. Paddock choice during closing is critical to set up the farm for spring time.
- Given the good grazing conditions, every effort needs to be made to graze any remaining difficult paddocks and close these off as soon as possible.
- To get good clean outs on paddocks, continue to strip graze, use a back fence and multiple access points to reduce damage.
- Most farms should try to push out to a 40 day rotation. For example a 30ha milking platform should be grazing 0.75ha/day.
Autumn grazing updates from Kilkenny, Cavan and Tipperary
Autumn grass growth has been quite variable around the country. However, it’s important to close the farm correctly during the final grazing rotation to prioritise spring grazing. In the below videos dairy farmers Joe Murphy and Michael Smith and beef farmer JP Hammersley discuss their plans for the final grazing rotation.
Joe Murphy, Co. Kilkenny
In the below video, Joe gives an autumn update from his farm, where grass growth has been behind normal due to soil moisture deficits and he talks through his plan for his final grazing rotation:
Michael Smith, Co. Cavan
Micheal Smith has built an AFC above 1,000kg DM/ha on his farm in Co. Cavan. In the below video, he talks outlines his final grazing rotation and his plan for closing the farm this autumn:
JP Hammersley, Co. Tipperary
JP Hammersley is farming a dairy calf to beef system, with an AFC of 631kg DM/ha. Stocking rate has reduced with forward animals housed for finishing and some finished animals sold. Calves will now manage the final grazing rotation. Watch the video below for more details:
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Also read: Autumn closing: Disciplined approach to housing date needed