GrassCheck, jointly funded by AgriSearch and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), provides actual and predicted grass growth information on a weekly basis throughout the grazing season.
Grass Growth and Quality
Grass Growth and Quality results up to 19th September and prediction to 3rd October 2011
Grass Growth
| 19 September (Actual) |
41 |
| 26 September (Predicted) |
34 |
| 3 October (Predicted) |
26 |
* 270 kg N/ha/year applied
Grass Quality
| 19 September |
14 |
11.6 |
22 |
11 |
Grass growth rates across six locations in Northern Ireland
Growth
(kgDM/ha/day) |
39 |
33 |
48 |
51 |
27 |
49 |
- •Although grass growth has improved at most sites, grass supply is not currently the main issue on most farms.
- Another inch of rainfall in the past week has caused ground conditions to deteriorate dramatically, with many herds now buffer feeding silage or housing at night.
- The unsettled weather is forecast to remain a feature through the rest of September, so utilising extended grazing techniques will be the only option in the short term to try and keep cows at grass.
Grazing Management Focus
David Kernohan manages a herd of around 110 spring calving Montbeliarde, MRI and Friesian cross cows near Ballymena. Rolling herd performance is currently 5,622 litres/cow/year from 990 kg concentrate/cow/year. David places a strong emphasis on producing milk from grass and is currently achieving 3,422 litres of milk per cow from forage.
Grass supply
Cow performance
Management issues
To maximise grass utilisation, the grazing area is divided into around 50 half-day paddocks. Additional laneways were constructed this year to improve access and help extend the grazing season. The herd is currently grazing around 36 ha with concentrates being fed in parlour. Cows are still grazing day and night but the situation is being reviewed daily with the deterioration in weather and ground conditions, despite the grass surplus. Options include housing the cows at night and round baling some of the paddocks along with 3rd cut silage.
Target line in wedge reflects a pre-grazing target of 3,450 kg DM/ha and a post-grazing target of 1,900 kg DM/ha. This is the quantity of grass required for a stocking rate of 3.1 cows/ha (113 cows grazing 36.3 ha) and a rotation length of 33 days, with cows eating 15 kg grass DM/day.
