The Clover Reporter and Research update
This week's clover reporter is Lawrence Sexton from Kilbrittain Co. Cork. Stephen Ryan from Dungarvan Co Waterford is the featured farmer. William Burchill, advisor on the Teagasc/ Dairygold joint programme discusses maintenance P and K requirements
Lawrence Sexton - Clover report
Lawrence has a dairy farm at Kilbrittain Co.Cork
Soil Type: shale to sandy
% Farm in 60% Clover: 15% - 76ha
% From Reseeding: 40% - 50ha
% From Oversowing: 20% - 25ha
Clover content 2021: % on ha 12 to 15%
Management of existing grass- clover swards during Autumn build up
I have about 15% of the milking platform with excellent clover and this will just recieve dairy washings and 0-7-30 during the Autumn to help the clover
Update on 2022 oversown and reseeded swards
Due to being down 250mm of rain here only 10ha of silage ground has been done with a silage red clover mix in the last number of months. It is only doing ok since set on June 1st.
I had it in mind to do some further reseeding however due to the dry weather it looks increasingly likely that this will be left until next Spring.
Research update
Maintenance P and K requirements for Grass and Silage - William Burchill
Now is a good time of the year to assess if sufficient P and K has been applied via slurry or fertiliser to meet P and K maintenance requirements.
Figure 1. Maintenance P and K requirements for a grass cover of 1,500 kg DM/ha depending on weather it is grazed or cut for bales.
The maintenance P and K requirements of a paddock in any given year will depend on the yield of the paddock and whether the paddock was primarily grazed or if there were, surplus bales cut on the paddock. Figure 1 highlights the amount of P and K removed from a cover of 1,500 grass DM/ha. Up to 10 times more K can be removed from a paddock when it is cut for bales v’s grazing. When grazed cows will recycle 90% of the K in the grass back on to the paddock in dung and urine. If baled 100% of the K in the grass is removed from the field. A typical bale of silage contains 10 units of K and 1.7 units of P.
For example if a paddock was grazed 6 times so far this year and will be grazed another three times before the end of the year the maintenance requirements can be worked out roughly as follows:
9 grazing x 3 units K/grazing = 27 units K/acre
9 grazing x 1.7 units P/grazing = 15.3 units P/acre
This changes significantly, where surplus bales are taken. For example if the same paddock was grazed 8 times in the year and cut for surplus bales once at a yield of 4 bales/acre the maintenance requirements for K are as follows:
8 grazing x 3 units K/grazing = 24 units K/acre
4 bales/acre x 10 units K/bale = 40 units K/acre
Total = 64 units K/acre
Now is the time to look at PastureBase and assess how many grazings and silage cuts have been taken off your paddocks. Calculate how much P and K has been applied this year in the form of slurry and fertiliser and apply P and K to paddocks that require it for maintenance
Grass10 Featured Farmer - Stephen Ryan, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford
Stephen is a dairy farmer at Ballinamult, Dungarvan
Stocking Rate: LU/ha - LU/ha on Milking PLatform: 2.9
Herd EBI: €175
2021 KgMS/Cow: 502 kg delivered
Current Milk Yield - Cow/Day: 1.65kg (20.5L @ 4.21% Fat & 3.6% protein)
Current Grazing Management
"Growth rate fell over the few days and my AFC has dropped by over 100kg DM/ha. My previous AFC was 738 kg DM/ha and the farm was growing over 70 kg DM/ha. Given the weather predictions last week, I took the replacement heifers off the milking platform and moved them to the outfarm. I have increased meal feeding to 3 kg/cow. I expect some recovery in grass growth now that rain has fallen - 13mm Sunday night August 14th, and more rain forecasted.
I will catch up now with fertiliser N - 20 units protected urea/acre and I also had some extra fertiliser N spread before the weather got really hot and dry. My plan is to have an AFC of over 800 kgDM/ha by Sept 1st. I am very happy with the cleanout of the paddocks on the farm as we enter autumn. The paddock cleanouts have really gone well this year. Starting the second rotation early has helped this a lot. My average pre-grazing yield has averaged 1100 kg DM/ha across the summer"
Rotation #: 8
Pre-Grazing Yield: KgDM/ha: 1100 kg
Next Paddocks to graze: KgDM/ha: 1250
Average Farm Cover (AFC): KgDM/ha: 627
Cover/LU: KgDM/LU: 216
Growth: KgDM/ha/day: 26
Demand: KgDM/ha/day: 46
Current rotation length: 19 days
Diet (Grass + Meal): 16 KgDM + 3 Kg
Mid-Season Fertiliser Management: 20 units protected urea/acre
Pictured below the local Teagasc Grass10 group meeting on Stephen Ryans farm with Teagasc Advisor Ruth Fennell & John Maher, Grass10. 
All the above featured in the Grass 10 Newsletter of August 16th
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