In recent weeks, slow growth has been the common factor noted across the regions, with much of the focus devoted to balancing grass availability and maintaining quality.

Where grass growth is slow, wasting grass must be avoided. Residuals of 3.5-4cm must be achieved in order to create high-quality covers for the next rotation when growth rates will hopefully rectify themselves. Grass walks should be undertaken at least once weekly but ideally twice weekly where grass is tight.

Milk output must also be monitored; average milk yield decline should be no greater than 2.5% per week at this point in the lactation.

Where volume or solids are falling quicker than this, quality and quantity of grass needs to be revised. Where quality is low, or silage is reintroduced into the diet, ensure the cows’ energy requirements are being met accordingly. Increased supplementation may be required.

Reduced energy density in the diet will result in decreased milk protein % and reduced milk output. Once growth has increased and quality has been rectified (with breeding also concluding), feeding rates can be reduced.

Looking ahead to the winter, now is a good time to assess how much fodder is on farm with first cuts completed, while some early 2^nd cuts and surplus bales have been taken.

With forage stocks depleted due to the late spring, it’s important to plan for the forthcoming winter while noting how much subsequent forage remains unharvested.

At this point, 2024 Spring-born calves should have smoothly transitioned to grazing.

Weighing scales remain one of the most underutilised management tools on farm and should be used to gauge where we are at regarding target weights ~ 200kg by mid-September (33% of mature cow weight) or 0.7-0.8kg/hd/day.

Parasite burdens can also have a huge impact on youngstock performance over the 1^st grazing season and should be discussed on a herd-by-herd basis with your veterinary practitioner.

For more information contact your local Agritech Sales Advisor or visit www.agritech.ie

Pre-weaning the overall aim was to have doubled our calves birth weight at the point of weaning, and to be ~100 kg at 11-12 weeks before being turned out to grass.

Another target weight to keep in mind with February and early born March calves is to weigh 180 – 190 kgs by the 1st of September, equating to an average daily gain of 0.7-0.8kg/head/day.

In an ideal world calves would be weighed regularly over their first season at grass to track average daily gains. This will allow for informed decision making regarding decreasing concentrate feeding rates at grass. 2kg of a low protein (<16%), high fibre concentrate should be offered while grazing for the first 3-4 weeks of grazing and only considered to be reduced thereafter, to approx. 1 kg. Where early born (Late Jan/Feb born) calves are on target and adjusted to grazing well, supplementation can be reduced further or removed – but this should not happen until late June; supplementation will need to be reintroduced when grass quality declines (late summer) and/or if targets are not being met.

Within groups, there will always be outliers that should be prioritized, calves failing to achieve the above outlined weights (especially younger born March calves). This lighter group needs to be offered a higher rate of supplementation, supplemented for later into the summer and prioritised for grass availability.

Replacement heifers struggling to achieve target weights in the first season at grass, typically results in a heifer too light at housing, and if not fed appropriately and returned to grass early, results in a heifer too light at the point of bulling – negatively effecting her longevity within the herd as a mature cow. With calf-to-beef situations a poor first season at grass will result in prolonged days to slaughter at a significant cost.

Parasite control

Stomach worms and lungworms (hoose) are the most common parasites of calves at grass – with burdens typically building during May-July (weather dependant). Although burdens may be building, clinical signs/symptoms are not experienced or seen typically until mid-summer onwards and this is when action will be required.

Warm humid conditions followed by heavy rainfall can result in rapid multiplication and a close eye will need to be kept on youngstock at grass over the next number of weeks. A dosing protocol should be discussed on a herd-by-herd basis with your veterinary practitioner, as conditions/grazing management & resistance in herds will vary hugely. Dung sampling is also advised to pinpoint issues. Stomach worms will typically present as scouring, and poor thrive while lungworm will need to be dealt with where husky coughing occurs (especially when being moved). Where poor thrive and loose dung is an issue, dung sampling to rule out coccidiosis is also required. It is important that poor thrive caused by parasites is not to be wrongly self- diagnosed as summer scour syndrome.

For further information, contact your local sales advisor

With increased levels of grass growth on many farms at present, this will give an opportunity for surplus grass to be cut as autumn grass silage. While the quality of this grass silage is excellent, preservation is an issue due to a number of factors.

With rapid growth and the days becoming shorter, this grass contains little fibre and is low in dry matter. As a result, water soluble sugar is limited and the natural lactic bacteria which naturally grow on the grass plants in the summer have lower populations at this time of the year.  

To preserve as much true feeding quality in this silage, it is essential to treat with a good quality silage additive like GrasZyme Sugarboost. This will ensure adequate lactic producing bacteria on the crop, leading to rapid fermentation by using both the water soluble and fructan sugars available in the crop. Speeding up the fermentation process will reduce energy losses and ensure 20% less true protein is broken down, making it more available to livestock. 

By ensuring excellent preservation, each 5 KG of quality silage voluntarily eaten by the animal = a saving of 1 KG of purchased ration per day of feeding.

Maize Silage

It is also looking like another bumper year for maize crops in terms of quality and yield. Maize silage is one of the most complementary feeds to grass silage as it is high in starch and fibre and is slowly digested in the rumen. Cows fed maize silage as part of their total forage intake have reported milk yield increases of 8%-10%, and cattle have shown increased daily live weight gains.  

Maize silage is an expensive crop to grow and ensile, so pit preservation is critical. Here are some clamping tips to reduce ensileable losses:

1. Ensure pit and loading area are clean.
2. Use side sheeting down by the wall, leaving sufficient plastic to reach half way across the clamp from both side walls.
3. Apply an additive at harvest that has proven to maintain pit face stability at feed out for up 10 days e.g. Ensile Bio
4. Consolidate the clamp well and ensure a level finish.
5. Use three sheets of high quality plastic [one being a vacuum sheet]. Seal down well with sand bags and tyres.
6. Protect the clamp from bird damage by applying Zill cover.
7. Keep a straight, clean clamp face at feed out.
8. Bait the surroundings well to prevent rodent damage.

Pit face stability is extremely important as the energy lost will not only reduce animal feed intake but will also lead to valuable energy losses from the clamp. Untreated clamps are at a high risk of secondary heating which can cause between 10% and 24% waste.

Ensile Bio is designed to preserve the crop in the shortest time possible and does so by producing acids which minimise the growth of yeast and moulds that naturally grow on high dry matter starch crops. By producing these acids rapidly, it ensures a stable pit face at feed out for up to 10 days.

The value per acre of maize is €900 plus harvest and the clamping cost of €150 gives a total of €1050 per acre. At 10% spoilage, this equates to €105 per acre of feed that the animals don’t eat. An ensile cost of €35 per acre for a 20 tonne crop is a very cheap insurance on a valuable winter feed.

For any further advice on grass or maize silage or to choose a suitable forage additive, contact your local Agritech distributor or click here.