March Grass - Opportunities and Challenges

By Michael Donoghue, B&T Dairy Adviser, Teagasc Galway/Clare

Grazing grass represents Irish farmer’s greatest advantage in livestock production. It costs 3 to 4 times less than either silage or meal, stock performance is better and labour input is drastically reduced. After a wet but mostly mild February and winter, most farmers have a great supply of spring grass. On Pasturebase Average Farm Cover, AFC, for Galway is around 900 Kg DM/Ha, so the grass is there but as always ground conditions will be a challenge.

Spring Grazing Plan

• 33% grazed by 1^st March
• 33% grazed by 20^th March
• 100% grazed by 10^th April

The above grazing plan is a very good guide and every farmer can adopt it to their own farm. On heavy farms or if the spring comes wet, as this year, a week to 10 days could be added to the targets. Conversely, on a dry farm or as some farmers have done this spring, the dates can be more set in stone.

The principles behind it are very simple

1. To get grass into animal’s diet early in the spring
2. To start your farm growing
3. To ensure you have enough grass to start the second round in April.

As we head into the second half of March those who have 50% or so of their ground grazed will be in a good place to start their second round in early April. For this group of farmers their focus will start to switch from getting area grazed to watching AFC and the pre grazing cover on the first fields grazed in the spring. As a guide AFC, should not be let drop below 500 to 550 Kg DM/Ha, as this will reduce the farms ability to grow grass. The target for the start of the main grazing season is to have the cover per cow at around 200/LU with half an eye on supply and demand.

For those who have very little or nothing grazed for now, they will have a different set of challenges. The challenge here will be to get stock out to grass and remove silage and meal as soon as ground conditions allow. The reality on these farms is a full round of grazing is unlikely to be achieved. With AFC probably greater than 1000 Kg DM/Ha there will be so much grass on the farm by the time a full first round is complete it could be heading into May and the first paddocks grazed will be getting too strong. So farmers here need to be flexible, similar to above the target for the start of the main grazing season is to have the cover per cow at around 200/LU with half an eye on supply and demand. So paddocks are likely to have to be cut for silage in late April/early May to correct grass quality.

Feeding the grass plant in spring is key to driving grass growth. The fertiliser plan is driven by maximising grass growth, without compromising the environment. Fertiliser is expensive but with response well in excess of 12 to 1 from now on, under normal circumstances, farmers should be aiming to maximise grass growth. For the lower covers, that were grazed in Feb or early March and got some fertiliser already apply 2,500 gallons of slurry per acre. For the rest of the farm apply 1 bag of protected urea per acre when conditions are suitable.

Above highlights the grazing targets over the next 4 to 6 weeks. This should ensure stock get access to high quality cheap spring grass while also ensuring there will be enough grass for April and grass quality will be maintained. Probably the greatest key to achieving the above is being flexible, getting stock out if only for 2 or 3 hours, on-off grazing and walking your farm are just some of the things you can do to improve your farm profits. A great resource to help you manage the farm is Pasturebase, google it for more information and tip/hints.