Bar Tech April 2021

The prolonged dry weather has brought some much-needed heat during the day, and the end of frost at night, but is also causing havoc with grass swards across the country as they continue to be restricted, and below average. 

In some areas, cattle are already out and content to be at grass but in others, where sheep have been winter grazing or where soil temperatures are cooler and dry, swards have been slow to react and it is tempting to keep stock housed.

An early turnout of cattle in the spring has many benefits including reduced labour hours, more contented stock and cheaper liveweight gain/milk production. Economically, more expensive feeds can be displaced by grass and an early turnout of stock will increase the quality of grass in subsequent rotations.

…but when to graze?

In an ideal world, grass is grazed early to allow re-growth for the second rotation, and of course you must ensure grass does not run out before your second rotation begins. Remember, grazing grasses too early, before the second new leaf tiller appears, can damage grass persistency. If a plant’s reserves have not been fully restored, future growth will be in jeopardy. It is easier to cut and round bale excess grass than it is to start buffer feeding when swards become depleted so always err on the side of caution when choosing fields for grazing and allow a little more than you think will be required.

When in a grazing cycle, the two main obstacles faced when managing swards are soil conditions and rainfall. Be careful with heavy land, especially after periods of rain as poaching of swards can reduce growth rates by as much as 20%. Visual checks of your fields will soon bring any issues to your attention and simple things like on/off grazing or temporarily moving stock to drier land will help alleviate any ground condition issues.

Grazing swards in prolonged dry spells of weather can be equally testing, both in terms of production and patience! It is important to maintain grass covers by reducing demand where needs be by using a supplement forage or concentrate. It is likely that the dry matter content of swards will have increased significantly so paddocks should in theory last longer. Give some consideration to strip grazing paddocks rather than block grazing during a dry period as anything not grazed down to 4cm is wasted forage but ensuring the grass is not overgrazed. 

Monitor your swards pre and post grazing.

Before stock start to graze a sward, carry out a visual assessment and look for any issues that may affect production later in the year. Early action on broad leaved weeds prevents an unmanageable infestation later in the year. Ask yourself the questions each time you walk through a field;  Is your sward dense enough to carry animals when grazing without poaching? Is your grass a healthy green colour or is it starting to show signs of stress? Patchy areas in your sward can indicate compaction and poor soil structure. Order your free Sward Stick

Visual checks after grazing could perhaps identify grasses that haven’t been eaten off as well as others. Perhaps the seed mixture used in this field isn’t ticking all the boxes or perhaps annual meadowgrass and other weed grasses are starting to take over, your animals will soon tell you whether or not they like what is in front of them! Making all of these observations will help you identify which swards need over-seeded or re-seeded. In an ideal world at least 15% of your grazing fields should be re-seeded every year but we know that isn’t always possible. Re-seed where you can and if other swards need a boost for a couple of years then over-seed with varieties that have been tested based on density, palatability and yield.