Grazing remains a challenge on the vast majority of farms, with further rainfall experienced in most parts of the country over the last few days.
Further issues on many farms include silage supplies running low and cows remaining in sheds.
Issues around cow condition are likely to impact on fertility performance once breeding starts.
Grazing
Where possible, the focus should be on getting cows out for short periods of time. Getting as much grass as possible into cows is going to be vital for stretching fodder supplies.
If your herd is having issues with low protein percentage and high milk ureas, it is likely that there is a significant energy deficiency in diets.
The energy supply will need to be adjusted where possible on farms to ensure that the energy demands of the cows are being met.
Silage quality is going to determine the amount of concentrates that are going to be needed in the diet in order to maintain production and condition in cows.
Make use of spur roadways and strip grazing to get cows to grass, but try to avoid causing damage where possible.
Grass growth
Grass growth rates appear to be remaining slow on farms, with many of the paddocks grazed early slow to come back.
The update from PastureBase on March 28 shows that current growth rates of 16kg of DM/ha for Leinster, 15kg of DM/ha for Munster, 14kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 11kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
The predicted growth rates for the coming days shows increases in all areas with 24kg of DM/ha predicted for Leinster, 25kg of DM/ha for Munster, 24kg of DM/ha for Connacht and 21kg of DM/ha for Ulster.
