More for less – the importance of early spring grazing
Early spring grazing takes effort. Fences, back fences, going out for cows after three hours when on-off grazing is practiced, so why bother? Dairy Specialist at Teagasc, Stuart Childs reminds us of its importance - both in terms of production and farm finances.
Spring grass is as good a feed as you can get. Even grass that might look poor is good quality, delivering protein and energy in excess of almost any alternative you can buy, grazed grass is about half the price of silage and about 25-33% of the cost of concentrate on a dry matter basis.
Grazed grass in the diet will also deliver increased yield and improved constituents that increase the value of those litres, so you really are getting more from less.
The other purpose of spring grazing is to set up the farm for the year ahead. Grazing kick starts the grass plant and early grazing maximises the time for regrowth prior to the start of the second round.
Adequate grass at the start of the second round is important to keep cows moving through the gears as they approach peak and also to ensure cows are adequately fed as they approach the start of breeding.
Dealing with lower average farm covers and grazing targets
Through a combination of factors - from extracting just a little too much from the fantastic grazing conditions on farm in the autumn of 2024, to the effects of the numerous storms to hit the country in the early part of 2025 - there may be a little less cover on farm than people would like.
PastureBase Ireland reported average farm cover at 862kg DM/ha on February 4th. This is lower than recommended. However, despite this, farmers should commence grazing as soon as possible if not already grazing.
Ground conditions are generally good and even with some significant rain forecast in the short term, ground will be trafficable soon again afterwards.
The lower than recommended average farm cover may mean grazing by day. With the objective being to graze 30% of the farm in February, target the lower covers by day to get through the area and feed silage by night, a happy medium as such.
If you have adequate grass to go day and night, then the choice is yours; however, remember that work done by Michael Egan and his team in Moorepark has found it better to include silage earlier in the first round rather than later. This work would suggest that farmers should aim to hit their 30% area target and supplement with silage in February rather than grazing significant area in February, running short of grass in the latter stages of the first rotation and having to introduce silage at that point. This causes a check to animal performance at an important stage of lactation.
Conclusion
In summary, early spring grazing is good for the cow, the grass plant and the farmer. However, too much of anything is bad for everyone! Target to graze 30% of your platform in February by grazing lower covers to get them going, feed silage by night now if necessary in the hope of avoiding having to feed it towards the end of the 1st rotation in late March/early April. Use the spring rotation planner in combination with a grass budget to make the right grazing decisions to maximise grass growth and cow performance.
For more information on the Spring Rotation Planner, click here.
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