Keeping grass quality in check on the Teagasc / Lakeland Dairies demo farms

As June edges closer, Advisor on the Teagasc / Lakeland Dairies joint programme, Sean Callan takes a closer look at the actions demonstration farmers, including Killian Brennan, are taking to keep quality grass in the diet and protect milk solids production through the mid season.

Farmer update – Killian Brennan

Currently in his third rotation in Co. Cavan, Killian Brennan’s average farm cover was slightly below where he would be in the early weeks of May. However, given the current weather and knowing growth rates would improve significantly, he wasn’t worried.

Along with cutting the first part of his first cut silage in the middle of May, numerous surplus paddocks were taken out for bales in order to manage pre-grazing yield (target 1,400kg DM/ha).

With growth now much greater than demand, Killian plans on taking out more surplus paddocks to maintain grass quality. He is currently following the cows with 19 units of protected urea.

In mid-April, Killian reseeded a new block of leased ground he has taken on just on the edge of the milking platform. When grass is back on it, he plans on grazing heifers on it as long as the cows have sufficient grass ahead of them, with the option of grazing it with the milking herd if needs be. This block was spread with farmyard manure and two and a half bags to the acre of 18-6-12 + Sulphur, with the plan to spread 19 units of protected urea after each grazing.

Breeding began Friday, May 15^th. Heifers were served to high EBI sexed semen on a synchronisation programme; cows are being served off natural heats. With some of his top performing, high EBI cows getting sexed semen, the rest are receiving a mixture of conventional high EBI semen or high DBI beef bulls.

Table 1: Sire Advice summary (Source: ICBF)

Milk performance update

With June approaching, our six demonstration farms have crossed their peak production, averaging an impressive 2.32kg of milk solids at the beginning of May. But it is important to remember that lactation persistency throughout the summer months through high levels of grassland management is what will deliver high margin performance.

The group are currently feeding an average of just over 3kgs of meal, with an opportunity now to drop that further and increase the level of grass consumed.

The somatic cell count across the group has stayed impressively low, averaging around the 100,000 for the month. Despite the average butterfat percentage dipping in early May, it is back on an upwards trend, alongside a consistently growing protein percentage, which should stay rising for the remainder of the year, being a good proxy for grass quality.

Table 1: Milk production on the Teagasc/Lakeland demo farms (week starting May, 18 2026)

Grass performance update

Farming across a range of different soil types, our monitor farms experienced a challenging start to the year with both grass growth and grazing conditions.

Weekly farm walks monitoring pre-grazing yields, growth rates and farm cover proved vital to ensure they utilised as much grass as possible, along with consistent applications of nitrogen when conditions allowed. On average, the farms have grown 4,096kg DM/ha and completed 9 grass walks.

Our demo farmers are readily taking out surplus paddocks for bales to try and prevent average farm covers getting out of hand and knowing the importance of grazing the correct covers of 1,400-1,500 kg DM/ha on grass intake and subsequent cow performance.

Table 2: Grassland performance on the Teagasc/Lakeland Demo farms (week starting May 18, 2026)