Grass10 Update and Newsletter - 29th November 2022
Get the latest information from the Grass10 team. The have weekly tips for managing your grassland as we come to the end of the grazing season. Signup for the dairy conference and PastureBase Ireland Webinar
PastureBase Ireland - Dairy Figures
- Average Farm Cover - 713 Kg DM/Ha
- Cover/LU - 280 Kg DM/Ha
- Growth - 12 Kg DM/Ha
- Demand 18Kg DM/Ha - Stocking rate 2.6 LU/Ha
- Pregrazing yield - 1,433 Kg DM/Ha
- Diet - 7 Kg DM Grass - 4 Kg Meal - 5 Kg Silage
Grass Dry Matter %
- Moorepark 10%
- Athenry 11%
Grass 10 Weekly Tips
- Complete your closing Average Farm Cover this week
- Attend the National Dairy Conference next week
- The 2022 PastureBase Scorecard is live
- Review your grassland performance with PastureBase
Complete your closing Average Farm Cover this week
Grazing has largely come to an end across the country, with heavy rain leaving conditions tricky for farmers who have an adequate grass cover to keep grazing. As we enter December, its time to walk your farm and enter a closing AFC on PastureBase Ireland. Recording a closing AFC will allow you to quantify the amount of grass grown for 2022 on your farm & allow you to accurately measure over winter growth when you walk the farm next Spring. The targets, with heaviest covers to carry over winter in brackets, are below:
2.5 LU/ha – 650-700 KgDM/ha (1300-1400 KgDM/ha)
3.0 LU/ha – 700-750 KgDM/ha (1500-1600 KgDM/ha)
3.5 LU/ha – 750-800 KgDM/ha (1600-1700 KgDM/ha)
Ensure you have 20 farm walks entered throughout 2022 on PastureBase Ireland to meet your derogation plan requirements. Make sure you have measured at least once in November & December.
A good start is half the battle, and high grass availability in the spring is a brilliant start. This is in your control! Every day at grass next spring will be worth about €4 per cow per day on a dairy farm, or about €2.75 per LU on a beef farm.
Attend the National Dairy Conference next week
The Teagasc 2022 National Dairy Conferences will take place on Tuesday 6th December at the Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork and on Thursday 8th December at the Mullingar Park Hotel, Mullingar. The conferences are finally back in person after 2 years online and the conference is not to be missed! The theme of the conferences is ‘Turning challenges into opportunities in dairy’.
Sessions at the Conference will vary from the global to the technical. Industry experts will update you on the changes they’re seeing in demand for dairy products and on the latest research into the benefits of dairy in human nutrition. Researchers and farmers will focus on strategies to increase production with less fertiliser Nitrogen. Advisers and researchers will deliver on breeding better calves from the dairy herd. In the final session we see a return to the short technical topics on key issues affecting your farm. Register for the National Dairy Conference here
Review your grassland performance with PastureBase
As the grazing year comes to a close and your enter the last records on PastureBase Ireland, have you set aside time to review your data? If you haven't, you need to. Knowledge is power, and you can profit off this power by reviewing the grassland KPIs. Knowledge is power becasue it allows you to make better decisions and take action to improve what you do. We will be hosting a PastureBase webinar on 7th December to show you how to capitalise on your reports.
The 2022 PastureBase Scorecard is live!
A big hit last year with farmers was the PastureBase Scorecard. It is a self-appraisal of your use of PastureBase to achieve grazing excellence. It requires you to review your PastureBase reports which highlight the grazing, clover and nutrient performance of your farm for 2022. If you haven't already, make this an absolute priority in the next few weeks. Put aside 1-2 hours to sit down, and take the time to go through your reports and fill out the scorecard. Working smart is not limited to out on the farm. Some of the best farmers in the country are using the PastureBase Scorecard to identify where they can make further improvements in 2023. PBI Scorecard
PastureBase Ireland - Drystock Figures
- Average Farm Cover - 700 Kg DM/Ha
- Pregrazing yield - 1,622 Kg DM/Ha
- Growth - 12 Kg DM/Ha
- Stocking rate - 1.55 LU/Ha
- Demand - 15Kg DM/Ha
- Days ahead - 46
Review of 2022 with PastureBase Ireland Webinar
Are you looking to review your PastureBase Ireland data but dont know where to get started?
On Wednesday, 7th December at 7pm the Grass10 & PastureBase Ireland team will host a webinar in order to aid people to understand their PastureBase Ireland data and identify areas for improvent in 2023.
We are delighted to be joined by Co. Kerry dairy farmer William Dennehy on the night where we will discuss his PastureBase data, with a particular focus on the performance and nutrient usage on grass clover swards.