The return of low pressure, rain and cold artic winds has been a bit of a kick in the teeth for most farmers in the past week. Up to now there has been some excellent feed budgeting on farm to survive the low growth until temperatures improve. It was a case of dividing the “loafs and fishes” – with the “loafs” being grass supply and the “fishes” being the slowly reducing silage stocks. But now for many, the fish are all gone and silage stocks are empty. On average, Spring calving herds should by now have access to 14-15 kgDM/cow/day – dependent on cow type and calving pattern. This diet should be made up of at least 55-60% forage to prevent to prevent rumen problems like acidosis. Many grass budgets are only allowing for 4-5 kgDM of grass with up to 7 kg concentrate, so, the remainder must be made up of a forage like silage. Unfortunately, for those who have just run out, they must now look outside their own farm to source this forage. While there is an obvious necessity for those with now silage to now go to buy it – there is equally a responsibility on those who have it to sell to make it available, at a reasonable price. So please be sensible in this regard.

So looking forward…another trawl of the weather forecasting websites suggests an improvement from the middle of next week, with higher midday temperatures and more sunshine. Again this should stimulate an improvement in growth. For those with fertiliser to spread – wait until the current cold spell passes and go as soon as the temperatures increase.

It is critical that you are monitoring your grass supply from now on – First step will be to remove the silage from the diet, second will be to lower concentrate inputs – both of which will have a considerable benefit on milk solid %’s, and thirdly will be to prepare for the closure of ground for 1st cut and possibly some reseeding. All these steps are easily decided upon by carrying out a simple grass budget, but once average farm covers return to higher levels – 500-600 kgDM/ha and from the start of the second rotation onwards – many of these decisions can be made from a grass wedge. By then most of the calving is complete, stock numbers are reasonably set hopefully cows will be grazing day and night on a grass dominated diet. The other part of the equation which is necessary for a wedge target line is the planned rotation length for the second rotation. For those who are now starting their 2nd rotation I suggest that you plan for a 26-28 day rotation until growth and overall farm cover improves significantly. For those who will start the 2nd rotation circa 10-12th April I suggest to plan for a 22-24 day rotation – as hopefully these farms will already be heading into a period of improved growth and increasing farm cover.

I have already mentioned reseeding above…while it should not be considered until growth and farm covers improves significantly, you should still be clear in your mind as to which paddocks need reseeding. Be sure to clarify this during your next farm walk. Brown ground after kale or fodder beet may be dry enough for tilling next week so be prepared. Coincidently, I have had a close look at some reseeded paddocks from 2009, especially where the farmer has been disappointed with the subsequent growth. In many cases the “top soil” of the reseeded ground is pale or light brown/grey. These paddocks have been ploughed and ploughed deeply bringing up a sub-surface layer or lower organic matter content and nutrient level. These nutrients and organic matter can be replaced but it take time and money. Bottom line – if you are ploughing be sure that you have a deep top-soil.