For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher explains how walking the farm will allow you to assess what your grass supply is (AFC).
If you are below target AFC <650kg DM/ha:
- Reduce demand on the farm to lift AFC to 650kg DM/ha. This may require grazing additional land (silage ground, replacement heifer area)
- Increase feed supplementation (ration, silage)
- Remove surplus animals
- Hold rotation length using these options to ensure growth isn’t further hampered
Walk the farm more frequently as grass growth and grazing conditions can and will change fast.
There is also huge variation in fertiliser and slurry applied to date across the country owing to ground conditions and grass covers. A focus should be put on getting nutrients where possible to ensure production is on track for the year ahead
Meanwhile, the featured farmer is Declan Flynn from Kilmallock, Co. Limerick.
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