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14 May 2025

Grass growth: Careful monitoring required on drier farms

Grass growth: Careful monitoring required on drier farms


Grassland farmers operating on drier sites have been advised to walk their farms twice weekly, as drier weather and warmer temperatures take hold.

As last weekend’s forecast rainfall failed to materialise in some locations, careful monitoring of grass growth rates and supplies is now required in drier counties, as some farms move into soil moisture deficit territory.

Through its weekly newsletter, the Grass10 team yesterday, May 13, reported average grass growth rates for the last week of 70kg DM/ha/day on dairy farms and 62kg DM/ha/day on drystock farms. On Tuesday, this left the average dairy and drystock farmer measuring grass through PastureBase Ireland is a position of surplus.

However, with rainfall amounts of 0-7mm predicted over the next seven days, a decline in grass growth rates is envisaged in some counties. As included in the weekly Grass10 newsletter, the MoST grass growth prediction model is pointing to grass growth rates of 40-75kg DM/ha/day next week (see figure 1 below). Counties predicted to have <55kg DM/ha/day of growth are Kilkenny, Carlow, Laois, Offaly, Kildare and Clare.

Figure 1: Grass growth predictions for next week (kg DM/ha/day)

A graphic showing predicted grass growth by county for the next seven days, a range of 40-75kg DM/ha/day has been predicted

For farms which missed the rain last weekend, and particularly those on drier farms in counties such as Carlow, Kilkenny etc., the Grass10 team has offered the following tips:

  • Paddocks under 600-700kg DM/ha are the paddocks mostly affected
  • If growth rates have reduced to <50kg DM/ha, plan for a 22-25 day rotation
  • Keep going with fertiliser as per rotation currently
  • It is vital to walk the farm twice/week to investigate if your growth rates are starting to reduce

For more tips and advice from the Grass10 team, visit or sign up to its weekly newsletter here.

More grassland management tips

John Maher, Programme Manager of the Grass10 Campaign, joined Catherine Egan on this week’s episode of the Beef Edge podcast, where he shared grassland management tips at this critical time.

Listen in below: