The Grass Measuring Thread

Mooooo wrote: »

They may have just take a gamble on rain coming, have they silage ground to graze if they get tight?

If there's silage on the platform, that farm is understocked, underutilized.....

Muckit wrote: »

'Platform' is sooo last year. The best dairy farmers collectively refer to their cow paddocks as the grazing 'plinth.'

Lmao!

Brilliant.

Signpost wrote: »

I know its not a very relevant figure but how do you calculate fresh weight per ha of silage? So I weighed a field and it was 650g so working it out at 17% dm I have 4420 kg dm /ha - but how many tonnes of grass going into the pit does this equate to?

4420 divided by .17 equals 26000 kgs fresh weight grass per ha or 26 tons

26 diveded by 2.471 equals 10.52 tons fresh weight per acre

pedigree 6 wrote: »

There's a manager and then a cowhand.
I know they have "advisors" too but at the end of the day it's up to the manager.
Or I am I mistaken?

Time will tell I suppose whether it was the right decision.
Nobody died I suppose anyway.:p

It's a good decision now after the rain

Keepgrowing wrote: »

As of tonight we've mowed 50% of the total farm. It's either in the pit or bales with 28% on the deck for baling tomorrow afternoon. Has to be one of the most perfect grass years to date. We've 6 tonne grown on the MP as of today.

Happy with that and a load of hi quality bales in the stack. Can't beat measuring IMO.

5.84 tonne up to Sunday. Similar to yourself, half overall farm mowed , baled and pit,but only 20% of the mp baled. Stocked at 4.4 and doing a full round of premowing this round. Hit solids slightly but litres have held. Need to get the stubble down as residuals were creeping up to 300, legacy of poor graze outs during wet weather.

How is everyone managing these high growth rates struggling to keep pregrazing covers right. Cows are in aftergrass from baling 12 days ago which is 1700 already. We have grown 2 ton in the last 2 weeks here

30% of the grazing area being mowed today. Baled this evening. No prospect of wilting. Rain forecast for overnight. Not sure if I'm taking out enough tbh.

Well if that's what you are thinking, then you really do need to take out another paddock. Should be nearly scared taking out stuff.

It is peak grass growth time though and in my limited experience, you'll always regret taking out too little than too much.

freedominacup wrote: »

30% of the grazing area being mowed today. Baled this evening. No prospect of wilting. Rain forecast for overnight. Not sure if I'm taking out enough tbh.

Cut out more
Drive till you run out of diesel or it looks like cows won't have grass by Tues.
I've never seem consistent growth like this

When ye say ye have cut x% of the mp, what stocking rate would that put ye at at that point in time? Take 2 cuts of silage off furthest fields here so normally at 4.2 for all summer. Week ahead looks broken I'd say most bales will be cut and bales the one day

Acting fast enough is the area I need to improve on and as ye say taking out a bit more than you think you should do was just asking how far would ye push it I guess. Was planning on pitting some but given forecast I'd it'll be bales

ted_182 wrote: »

Phuck me il be lucky to have six tonne grown by end of june. What things have you learned over time to be achieving high tonnes the way ye do? Obviously measuring important but many of us who do still cant get near that level of growth? Is it fertilisation, Grass varity, Sr, location?

Land type, can graze any day
Soil Fertility. We are anal about p&k, lime and in particular compaction. I was reared growing sugar beet, wheat and barley so got a great grounding in soil care and health.

The big one is the grazing management and the number of grazings per paddock. We do not agree with the 10 April for end of first round, it's too late. We aim the be started second round by end of March usually 26-29th.

This can lead to a bumpy ride in second round but we will feed bales at this te and it's usually a short period.

Number of grazings per paddock I'd critical IMO. We are on grazing no5 and some are on no6. We won't lock up any long term silage on MP, rather maintain St at about 3.8-4. I don't get the point of closing 29% long term feeding extra nuts to milkers trying to maintain a high sr in order to make silage for dry cows.

Lastly, a healthy level of debt helps to concentrate the mind.

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Land type, can graze any day
Soil Fertility. We are anal about p&k, lime and in particular compaction. I was reared growing sugar beet, wheat and barley so got a great grounding in soil care and health.

The big one is the grazing management and the number of grazings per paddock. We do not agree with the 10 April for end of first round, it's too late. We aim the be started second round by end of March usually 26-29th.

This can lead to a bumpy ride in second round but we will feed bales at this te and it's usually a short period.

Number of grazings per paddock I'd critical IMO. We are on grazing no5 and some are on no6. We won't lock up any long term silage on MP, rather maintain St at about 3.8-4. I don't get the point of closing 29% long term feeding extra nuts to milkers trying to maintain a high sr in order to make silage for dry cows.

Lastly, a healthy level of debt helps to concentrate the mind.

Do you use a strip wire when do No 5/6 grazings? Or just keep a bit at the back to settle them for last grazing?

Mooooo wrote: »

Do you use a strip wire when do No 5/6 grazings? Or just keep a bit at the back to settle them for last grazing?

I'd say it more like 5/6 grazing since start of year ?