Jay Warden

Ballygrainey

The first port of call for the group was the field the cows had just left. Jay wasn't entirely satisfied with the amount of grass left in clumps in the field. All the group agreed that with grass cover being built up in order to extend the grazing season getting the paddocks well eaten down was a problem. However it was noted that the bottom (and flat) end of the field was very well eaten down compared to the sloping part. This is no doubt due to the lying habits of the cows.

Topping was discussed but it was agreed that this would be courter productive as the grass would be very slow to recover at this time of year. The value of pre-topping was also discussed. James Brown reported that he had neighbours who did this with great success. It was also a good way of getting the cows to eat the dead material in the sward that they rejected when grazing.

It was also pointed out that as yet the farm had probably not entered its last rotation and that in the last rotation a few dry cows could follow behind to clean up any untidy paddocks.

• Less silage being made due to large amount carried over from last winter and a longer grazing season.
• Group member more willing to graze lower covers - effectively an inch had been taken from the bottom of most swards
• Unremarkable but a very steady grazing season. No huge spurts in growth but no drought or periods of very poor growth.

The value of late season nitrogen was discussed due to the Indian summer most farmers continued sowing a week to ten days later than normal but most had stopped by the time of the meeting. Timothy Morrow however was continuing to sow fertiliser arguing that although from a feed cost point of view the use of fertiliser could not be justified after late September if one was to weigh in all the benefits of keeping cattle out at grass such as less labour in spreading slurry, depreciation on buildings and machinery etc. then it would be financially viable.

Senior Development Advisor Joe Kennedy suggested the use of sheep to thicken the sward although most of the group were not happy at the idea of "white lice" on cow ground.

The value of clover was discussed. William Steele who has been introduced clover into most of his grazing swards said that the clover made a big difference to milk yields. He commented, "I don't like the milk recorder coming when the cows have been grazing a no-clover field".

Grass Budget

As can be seen from the budget below the grazing season should last until late November / early December. This budget assumes night time housing around the time of the hour change in late October. Cover at the close of the grazing should be between 1800 - 2000 kgDM/ha to ensure an adequate supply for spring turnout.

Period