Autumn closing: Time to protect farm cover
Although the average farm cover on Irish dairy farms measuring grass through PastureBase Ireland stood at 822kg DM/ha, a wide degree of variability exists across farms.
As reported in this week’s Grass10 weekly newsletter, 29% of dairy farms have an average farm cover (AFC) <700kg DM/ha, 34% are on target with an AFC ranging from 700-900kg DM/ha, whereas the remaining 37% of farms have an AFC in excess of 900kg DM/ha.
For farms falling into the first category, the Grass10 team recommends keeping demand below growth; these farms cannot graze more than the farm grows from now until closing. This will be all the more challenging as grass growth rates are entering their seasonal dip, falling to an average of 36kg DM/ha/day last week and predicted to dip further next week to an average of 24kg DM/ha/day. Given this predicted growth rate, farms with a stocking rate of 3LU/ha must maintain grass intake per cow below 8kg/DM/day.
For farms currently at target AFC, the Grass10 team advises precenting AFC falling by more that 40kg DM/ha/week, whereas farms with an AFC of >900kg DM/ha should not allow their AFC to reduce my more than 80kg DM/ha/week.
Key tips from the Grass10 team:
- Autumn rotation planner should be followed on all farms (see table 1 below)
- Closing up is the start of the grazing season
- Farms with heavy land or high stocking rate (>3 LU/ha) should have 40-60% closed up by the 21st of October with 80% by 1st November
- On farms aiming to close mid-November, between 25–30% of the farm should be closed by the 21st of October with 60% by 1st
When farmers are closing ground, the Grass10 has also shared some tips to optimise graze outs, including using a 12-hour strop wire, using multiple access/exit points, and ensure cows have an appetite going out to grass.
Table 1: Autumn grazing targets
| Date | Cover/cow (kg DM) | Average farm cover (kg DM/ha) | Rotation length |
| Stocking rate of 2.5 LU/ha | |||
| October 1 | 400 | 1,000 | 40 days |
| November 1 | 60% of your grazing platform should be closed for Spring at this stage | ||
| Fully housed | 600 | ||
| Stocking rate of 3.0+ LU/ha | |||
| October 1 | 380 | 1,150 | 40 days |
| November 1 | 65-75% of your grazing platform should be closed for Spring at this stage | ||
| Fully housed | 650-700 | ||
| Heavy land (cannot have pre-grazing covers over 2,000kg DM/ha) | |||
| October 1 | 330 | 850-950 | 35 days |
| November 1 | 80-100% of your grazing platform should be closed for Spring at this stage | ||
| Fully housed | 550-600 | ||
Weekly Grass 10 Update
On this week’s Grass10 Weekly Update, John Maher shares the latest grazing management tips, he also brings us an update from Niall O’Regan from Mallow, Co. Cork.
Listen in below:
For more on the above, view this week’s Grass10 Weekly newsletter here.