Grass update
- Grass is very tight due to a significant reduction in grass growth
- Fodder reserves are on target for next winter
- To boost growth Trevor blanket spreads the farm
- 1 ha is reseeded
Trevor Boland May/June Update 2024
- The bulls are a priority group. Trevor is targeting a 500kg sale weight
- The purchased dairy x beef heifers will be drafted for meal feeding in August
Bulls & dairy beef cattle
Grassland
Like most farms, growth rates have significantly declined in June. As we can see from pasturebase average farms covers (AFC) on both the home farm and the outfarm in Skreen are not what Trevor would like .The outfarm in Skreen is slightly better with an AFC of 657kgs and the target for this time of year would be 750kgs/DM/ha. Trevor likes to use the days ahead as a guide to the grass situation on the farm. Skreen has 10 days ahead, Trevor would like this figure to be 14. When the days ahead figure drops, fertiliser is applied and Trevor has applied 18.6.12 to Skreen. It is low in P and K. The demand for grass is 63kgs/ha/day and with growth rates of 48 kgs /DM/ha/day, there is a risk that the average farm cover will dip below 500kgs/DM/ha.
Photo; Grass demand is outpacing growth
Photo; Grass is very tight on the home farm.
There are several actions that can be taken to help correct the grass situation.
- Reduce grass demand by housing stock and feeding silage for a short term.
- An alternative is too strip graze ground closed for silage. Trevor has this option to graze ground closed for the second cut. The cover is not too strong yet.
- Sell stock – Trevor has sold three dry cows and the bulls used for mopping up last year
- Apply fertiliser- 20 units of nitrogen per acre has been blanket spread
With warmer weather forecast, Trevor believes the situation will correct itself in the next couple of weeks.
Photo ; 1st cut silage 290 bales made on May 17th
Photo; 1 ha has been reseeded
There is a section of ground at home that is poor performing in terms of grass growth. As the stocking rate of the farm is close to 2 L.U/ha, the farm needs to grow 10 ton of DM/ha/year. Trevor took the opportunity to reseed 1 ha.
The mix used per acre;
- 4 kgs Abergain
- 3kgs Aberchoice
- 5kgs Ballintoy
- 5kgs Ballyvoy
- 6kgs of white clover.
In addition to the mix another 1kg of white clover will be incorporated per acre.
Performance
The bulls are the priority group on that farm. With an upcoming sale date in July, Trevor has increased the meal to 2 kgs/head/day. Prior to the introduction of meal, the bulls were averaging 1.13kgs/head/day. The group are not forced to graze tight and with meal been given now, growth rates will increase. The target weight is close to 500kgs at sale.
Photo; A sale weight of 500kgs is the target.
Photo; The heifers are on grass only
Breeding
There are 51 cows due to start calving in the last few days of July. In an autumn calving system, the body condition needs to be monitored. There is a risk that dry cows could get fat during the summer months out on grass.
Trevor grazes the cows on low covers and moves them every second day.
Photo; staying fit prior to calving in August and September.