Grass10 Newsletter - 26th July 2022
The Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition 2022 has been launched! The Grass10 team bring us the details in this week's newsletter. Also get the regular PBI dairy & beef figures, grass growth predictions, Grass10 Weekly Checklist & tips, Grass10 Featured Farmer, Clover reporter and more here
206th Edition - 26th July 2022
Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition 2022 launched by Minister McConalogue TD
The Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition for 2022 was officially launched last week by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD. Pictured left to right were: John Maher, Teagasc Grass10 Programme; John O’Loughlin, Grassland Agro; Padraig Walshe, FBD Insurance and Chair of the Teagasc Grass10 committee; Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD; John Farrell, AIB; and Professor Frank O’Mara, Teagasc Director.
The competition recognises and acknowledges those dairy, beef and sheep farmers who are achieving high levels of grass utilisation in a sustainable manner.
Click on the link below to enter the competition for 2022!
Grass10 Weekly Tips
Grass Growth variable, continue to walk farm every 5-7 days
Depending on your location, rainfall levels have been variable over the weekend with certain parts of the "BMW" region recieving 25mm of rain while areas in the south & east recieved less than 10mm of rain.
Grass growth is varying with farms that have sufficient soil moisture growing 60 Kg DM/Ha + whereas farms that are struggling with Soil Moisture Deficits are growing in the region of 40-55 Kg DM/Ha currently. It is also varying across paddocks within farms. Grass supply is high on most farms at 208 KgDM/cow on dairy farms and 20 days ahead on drystock farms so the key message is to continue to walk your farm and use the PBI predicted wedge to help make decisions. Don't over rely on grass growth information outside your farm gate. Manage grass properly by continuing to walk your farm weekly and establish growth and supply to make the best decisions.
Continue to record fertiliser applications of PastureBase Ireland and review
As we approach late July, there are 1-2 applications of fertiliser (chemical and organic) remaining to apply on your paddocks before the deadline. Continue to record all chemical and organic fertilisers applied using PastureBase Ireland. If this is your first year recording, then it is vital information to have in making a plan to reduce chemical fertiliser in 2023. If you have been recording fertiliser for more than 1 year on PastureBase Ireland, compare 2021 fertiliser use and grass growth to 2022. Remember- "what you dont measure, you cant manage"
Paddocks that have high levels of clover should recieve K this August in order to maintain good soil fertility, in the region of 1/3 to 1/2 of a bag of 0-0-50 per acre (15-25 units)
Low growth rates/ low rainfall on your farm, hold AFC above 550 Kg DM/Ha
On dry farms where soil moisture deficits are high grass growths are restricted. To help reduce the effect of this, it is important to hold AFC above 550 KgDM/ha to support grass growth potential. Going below this target reduces grass growth rates, and recovery will be slower. Maintain a 20-25 day rotation length (i.e. on an 80 acre block graze 3-4 acres per day) and ensure pre-grazing yields are above 1000 KgDM/ha. Reduce demand on farm. Options are: remove some animals from main block, bring back silage ground for grazing (if not too strong), introduce silage, or increase meal. Remember to allocate grass in the paddock if you are allocating silage in the yard to ensure good grass utilisation and that you slow down the rotation. Apply watery slurry to paddocks if rain is forecast.
Enter the 2022 Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition!
As pictured above, Minister Charlie Charlie McConalogue lauched this years Grassland Farmer of the Year competiton. The competition recognises and acknowledges those dairy, beef and sheep farmers who are achieving high levels of grass utilisation in a sustainable manner. This years competition has 7 different categories for you to enter-:
- Dairy
- Drystock
- Clover/Sustainable farming
- Heavy soils/Disadvantaged Land
- Innovation
- Young Farmer (under 30 years)*
- Organic Farmer
Click on the image below for more information and to enter. Good luck!
Grass10 Featured Farmer
Michael McGuigan, Co. Meath
Michael farms along with his wife Aisling and daughter Penny at Blackwater Farm, Longwood, Co. Meath. Michael runs a 34 cow suckling to store/beef system consisting of all Autumn calvers on a 23.5 Ha grazing platform. His Replacement index on the cows is €85 and on the heifers is €132
William Dennehy, Co. Kerry
This section will give weekly reports and videos from farmers who have a lot of clover established on their farms
This week, William Dennehy, dairy farmer from Co Kerry gives us an update from his farm. William informs us that he has the same grass grown from less fertiliser applied so far in 2022.
Autumn Grazing Targets
With the 1st August only a handful of days away, Autumn grazing targets will start coming to the forefront of our minds over the coming weeks. The autumn grazing targets are presented in the table above, to give targets for farmers at different stocking rates throughout the autumn.
In anticipation, all farmers should create a grass budget for the autumn on PastureBase Ireland to help plan out your grazings and help you hit the targets that you set out for your farm. Click on the link below to see a tutorial video by Micheal O'Leary from PastureBase Ireland on creating a grass budget.
Click here to view the video on creating a grass budget
New Feature on PastureBase Ireland - Record the level of clover in paddocks
1. Now each paddock on PBI can be categorised by the level of clover in it. This option is found in the PADDOCK section on the PBI browser (not ion the app). Click on the button EDIT (see below).
2. Then click the level of clover that best suits the paddock. There are four different option available; ‘None’, ‘Low’, ‘Medium’ and ‘High’. When a level is selected click on SAVE & NEXT (see below).
3. When fertiliser reports are run the paddocks are displayed in different shades of green symbolising the level of clover. This will aid users to quickly identify clover and non-clover paddocks and subsequently alter their chemical fertiliser applications.
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