John Maher, Grass 10 Campaign Manager, joins Emma-Louise Coffey to discuss the current grassland situation on farms across the country.
Firstly, John reflects on the 2019 grazing season and he advises farmers to look at some key figures such as total grass production, number of grazings achieved and pre-grazing herbage cover.
John looks to the current situation on farms and explains that while overall annual rainfall is normal, above average rainfall has been observed in late August, September and October.
He urges farmers to be flexible with grazing using on/off grazing, multiple access points to enter and exit the paddock and ensure cows are keen to graze for a grazing bout.
John refers to the current average farm cover of over 700 Kg DM/ha recorded on PastureBase Ireland but warns that individual farmers must ensure their farm does not fall below a cover of 500 kg DM/ha. A low average farm cover will limit the ability of farm to grow grass across the winter and compromise grass supply in spring.
 
For more information:
https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2019/73rd-Edition-Grass10-Newsletter-05-11-19.pdf
For more episodes and information from the Dairy Edge podcast go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/