Grass10 Newsletter - 30th August 2022
This year’s Grassland Farmer of the Year competition has been extended until Friday 16th September for entries. The Grass10 team have details of this and more in this week's newsletter. Get advice on dealing with managing rotation during severe drought. Plus Grassland farmer of the Year farm walks
211th Edition - 30th August 2022
Grass10 Weekly Tips
Attend one our Grassland Farmer of the Year Events during the next week
We have 2 excellent Grassland Farmer of the Year events for you to attend over the next week.
First up is Drystock category winner Aidan Maguire tomorrow Wednesday 31st August at 6.30pm in Navan, Co. Meath
Next Tuesday 6th September at 11am, it is Dairy category and overall winner Colin Doherty's farm walk in Adare, Co. Limerick.
See details below of both events.
Farms particulary in the East and South severly affected by drought
Above average sunshine and no rainfall over the last week has pushed soil moisture deficits to between 50 & 80 mm in parts of the East and South of the country. In this weeks featured farmer, Colin Doherty's growth rates are back to 22 Kg DM/Ha and considerable supplement has been introduced.
Rain is forecast for this weekend and will hopefully improve the situation for farms that are struggling.
Continue with low daily grass demand. Maintain/extend rotation length at 30 + days. 1Ha per day of a 30 Ha grazing platform. This will facilitate the last 2 grazing rotations, i.e September and closing up of the farm during October.
For those with severe drought the "6/6/6" of 6kg DM grass, 6kg DM silage, 6kg meal is an option for dairy farms.
Try and hold grass cover on the farm (>500 Kg Dm/Ha), continue with sufficient supplement. For Beef farms, the options to reduce demand are: house finishing cattle, feed meal outside, feed silage outside, other feeds/forages, sell some animals.
Grass DM is higher during drought periods (>20% DM) and grass supply tends to be underestimated.
Post grazing residuals of 4 to 4.5cm should be maintained, don’t waste feed.
No N fertiliser should spread until rain has been received which is due at the weekend.
All farmers should do a fodder check on what fodder they have in store, especially those in the eastern half of the country.
Review your AFC with Autumn Targets for your farm
Objective Remains: To “build” grass for the autumn period
even though some farms may not get near to reaching targets due to drought.
Farms in the West and BMW region are still growing well and therefore should be aiming to hit Autumn targets below.
Keep walking your farm weekly to monitor AFC against the targets. Rotation length should be 30 days for farms stocked at 3.0+ LU/ha. This is not rotation length between grazing events, it is rotation length based on area per day. E.g. 30ha grazing block should be grazing 1 ha per day.
1st Sept targets for different levels of stocking rate-:
2.5 LU/Ha - 750 Kg DM/Ha AFC
3.0 LU/Ha - 990 Kg DM/Ha AFC
3.5 LU/Ha - 980 Kg DM/Ha AFC
Enter the 2022 Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition!
This year’s Grassland Farmer of the Year competition has been extended until Friday 16th September for entries. The competition recognises and acknowledges those dairy, beef and sheep farmers who are achieving high levels of grass utilisation in a sustainable manner. This year’s 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 link below for more information and to enter. Good luck!
Click here to enter the 2022 Grassland Farmer of the Year Competition!
Two excellent events to attend this week!
Click here to watch Aidan's promo video
Aidan Maguire is deservedly the 2021 Drystock Grassland Farmer of the Year. The progress this farmer has made in such a short space of time is phenomenal.
Join the Teagasc Grass10 team along with the Teagasc DairyBeef500 team Wednesday evening (tomorrow) 31st August at 6.30pm on the farm of Aidan Maguire, Navan, Co. Meath for his farm walk. Eircode - C15W4C2
After Aidan's event, we move south to Co. Limerick!
Colin Doherty, Adare, Co. Limerick was the Dairy category and overall winner of the 2021 Grassland Farmer of the Year. Reducing N fertiliser nitrogen input is one of the objectives that Colin is trying to pursue.
A lot of clover has been established on the farm both through oversowing and reseeding. This strategy will continue as the farm aims to reduce its environmental footprint.
Colin's farm walk will take place next Tuesday 6th September on his farm in Adare Co. Limerick at 11am. Eircode-: V94K160
Both events promise to be excellent with topics covering Farm Performance, Soil Fertility, Grazing Infrastructure, Establishing red & white clover + much more!
Click here for more information and to watch Colin Doherty's promo video
Grass10 Featured Farmer
Colin Doherty, Adare Co. Limerick
Colin Doherty, our 2021 Dairy Category and Overall Grassland Farmer of the Year gives us an update on his current grazing situation, where growth is back to 22 Kg DM/Ha and zero grazed grass has been introduced into the diet to hold AFC around 500 Kg DM/Ha. Colin is hosting his GFOY farm walk next Tuesday 6th September at 11am. Click below
Autumn Grazing Targets
Date | Cover/Cow - Kg DM | Average Farm Cover - Kg DM/Ha | Rotation Length - Days |
---|---|---|---|
Stocking Rate of 2.5 LU/HA | |||
1st August | 180 | 450 | 20 |
Mid-August | 200 | 500 | 25 |
1st September | 300 | 750 | 30 |
Mid-September | 400-450 | 1000-1100 | 35 |
1st October | 400 | 1000 | 40 |
1st November | 60% of your grazing platform should be closed for spring at this stage | ||
Fully Housed | 550-600 | ||
Stocking Rate of 3.0 LU/HA | |||
Mid-August | 250 | 750 | 25 |
1st September | 330 | 990 | 30 |
Mid-September | 370 | 1100 | 35 |
1st October | 380 | 1150 | 40 |
1st November | 60% of your grazing platform should be closed for spring at this stage | ||
Fully Housed | 600-650 | ||
Stocking Rate of 3.5 LU/HA | |||
Mid-August | 220 | 770 | 25 |
1st September | 280 | 980 | 30 |
Mid-September | 340 | 1200 | 35 |
1st October | 335 | 1175 | 40 |
1st November | 70% of your grazing platform should be closed for spring at this stage | ||
Fully Housed | 700-750 |
Ger Pardy, Co. Offaly
This section will give weekly reports and videos from farmers who have a lot of clover established on their farms.
This week, we hear from dairy farmer, Ger Pardy from Co. Offaly where growth is starting to slow on his farm, however grass clover swards are staying green and not burning up as much as the grass.
Swards For The Future Conference
Click here for more information and to Register
The Dairy Edge Podcast with GFOY Overall Winner Colin Doherty
In last weeks Dairy Edge podcast,Grass10 Champion, Colin Doherty speaks to Emma-Louise on building a repeatable grass-based system ahead of his farm walk on 6th September (see advert below).
Managing Grass for the Autumn on Beef farms
With parts of the country in drought & some rain arriving, Joseph Dunphy Teagasc Grass10 advisor and Fergal Maguire DairyBeef500 advisor are on last week’s Beef Edge podcast with advice & tips in advance of the last rotation. Click below
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