24 October 2023

Wet weather grazing practices back in play on Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farms

Sandra Hayes, Co-ordinator of the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Programme, outlines how last week’s heavy rain has affected farmers, bringing about the rapid resumption of wet weather grazing practices.

The weather has affected a number of things on all the farms. Many had been working through closing paddocks, planning future grazing dates and opting to leave this year’s clover reseeds to graze later on.

With over 60-70mm of rain on various farms, some herds have been housed at night and allocations of grass have been to 2-3 hours grazing by day, bringing on-off grazing back into play. Monitor farms have started to supplement with silage, ranging from 2kg to 6kg, as the dry matter of grass has fallen to near 10%.

Average farm covers have fallen as well and good graze outs have been harder to attain. Some farms still have a large percentage to graze, so conditions will be monitored to get this grazed in the coming days and weeks. Depending on soil type and rain fall quantities, grass growth has been variable. Milk yields have fallen back by 2 to 3L as well. Cull cows have been removed to reduce demand.

Also, a lot of milk recording has been carried out in the last week to see which cows will be suitable for teat sealer only at dry off. Some herds have been drying off any cows yielding below 10L or in poor body condition. Hopefully the weather will pick up shortly and remaining parts of the autumn rotation plan can be completed.

Table 1: Grass growth and average farm cover on Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farms

 For more information on the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Programme, click here.