Focus on soil fertility and review grassland performance now
As we enter 2025, assessing the soil fertility of your farm and reviewing your 2024 grassland performance are key before the busy spring period gets underway on Irish farms, John Maher, Joseph Dunphy and Niamh Doyle from the Teagasc Grass10 team tells us more.
Soil sampling is a key step to improving soil fertility
The first step in improving soil fertility on your farm is to conduct a soil test. Early January is the ideal time to take soil samples, as no nutrients will have been applied to the land since the start of the closing period in autumn.
Soil sampling establishes the requirement for essential soil nutrients to grow grass such as lime, phosphorous (P) and potassium (K), making it the most important stage in managing soil fertility.
By improving soil fertility, your farm has the potential to increase grass production by up to 25%. Understanding the fertility of each field on your farm is the starting point for controlling fertiliser costs.
Soil test results can assist farmers in identifying fields that may require lime, target slurry to fields that need it most and reduce fertiliser inputs.
Nationally, soil fertility is generally poor, with only 18% of grassland reaching optimal levels (i.e., soil pH >6.2, and Soil P & K Index 3 or 4). Action is needed now to maintain and build on previous fertility improvements.
Soil sampling and an updated nutrient management plan are essential steps toward achieving this. If soil samples have not been taken in several years, now is the time to consider sampling before slurry or chemical fertiliser is spread on land, as doing so will ensure a more accurate result.
Reviewing your grazing performance for 2024 using PastureBase Ireland
Take time before the 2025 grazing season begins to review your 2024 data on PastureBase Ireland. If you have been measuring grass consistently with 25+ walks over a number of years, there is a huge amount of data on your grazing management and it would be a shame to not use this data to make better grazing decisions in 2025. These reports are easy to access, highlight “Annual Summary” on the left hand side of the PastureBase homepage & they are there for you to view. Please focus on these 4 reports below:
1). Annual Tonnage Report
The Annual Tonnage Report reviews the T DM/Ha (total pasture grown) for each of your paddocks. Look at poorer performing paddocks & identify areas for improvement in 2025
2). PastureBase Scorecard
The PastureBase Scorecard gives you a score on your grazing performance & PastureBase usage under 10 different headings. Click into it to see your score & areas to improve your score in 2025.
3). Farm Cover Report
The Farm Cover Report reviews how many grass measurements you recorded on your farm in 2024. Review how many you completed in 2024 and aim for 35+ in 2025.
4). Farm Review
The Farm Review report is a comprehensive printable report that you can customise for your farm. You can select certain reports, graphs & toggle between different years. Make sure to review for your farm in preparation for the 2025 grazing season.
Figure 1: Screenshot of menu from PastureBase Ireland.
Driving grazing performance in 2025 with PastureBase Ireland
A recent Grass10 webinar focused on driving grazing performance in 2025 with PastureBase Ireland. Joseph Dunphy and Niamh Doyle, Teagasc Grass10 Advisors, along with Ciaran Hearn, PastureBase Ireland covered the following:
- A review of the national pasture growth figures in a challenging 2024 for Irish farmers
- Using the many PastureBase Ireland reports to improve pasture performance
- Tips to set your farm up for success with pasture production & utilisation in 2025
Dairy farmer Enda Armstrong from Co. Galway joined the webinar to review 2024 & identify grazing management practices to improve in 2025.
The end of year webinar from the Grass10 & PastureBase Ireland team can guide you in reviewing your 2024 grazing year. This webinar is available to view below: