Grass remains the farming sector’s greatest resource. Our ability to produce significant quantities of milk, beef and lamb from grazed grass and silage sets us apart from the rest of the world.
So much for the good news: the even better news is that local farmers are becoming better grassland farmers. This is a point that has been confirmed by United Feeds’ Ruminant Products Manager Bobby Irwin.
Earlier this week, he sat down with Farming Life’s Richrd Halleron to discuss the prospects for the 2022 grassland year in Northern Ireland.
In many ways, the season has already started,” Bobby explained.
“The winter has been very mild up to this point with the result that that grass has never really stopped growing in many parts of the country.
As we enter the first week of March, grass is available in significant quantities. The recent heavy rains, however, have led to a severe deterioration in ground conditions. So the real challenge facing farmers right now is that of coming up with a plan to have it utilised in the most efficient way possible.”
Grazing: getting the basics right
According to Bobby, the three fundamental principles associated with best grazing practice are: building the required wedge across a grazing platform; knowing how much grass is available in each paddock or field as the season progresses and grazing grass when it will deliver the optimal level of performance.
He continued:
“For dairy farmers, committing to get cows out as early in the season as possible is important.
So it’s a case of identifying the driest paddocks and getting these utilised at the outset. A very simple rule of thumb has to be followed at all times: the farmer should always be in full control of the grass that is available, not the other way around.
Letting grazed grass get ahead of stock, particularly later in the season, will lead to significant fall-offs in forage utilisation.
The United Feeds’ representative added that dairy farmers should not hesitate putting cows producing up to 40L of milk per day out into the paddocks during the early spring period.
“Grass is the cheapest source of feed available to every livestock farmer,” he stressed.
“So putting cows out for three to four hours per day between milkings should be considered over the coming weeks, provided the animals can make best use of the grass that is available to them.
The availability of a high quality TMR when not at grass, in tandem with in-parlour feeding of concentrates will ensure that overall yields are not impacted negatively.
But it’s also important to keep the basics right: not putting cows out on frosty morning being a case in point.
The benefits of securing improved grazing standards become very quickly obvious.
Taking a baseline production average of 10L of milk from grass per day and increasing this figure up to 14L, represents a massive saving in concentrates over a four to six month grazing season,” stressed the United Feeds’ representative.
Soil testing
Bobby Irwin points to the more than significant increase in soil testing activity on local farms as further evidence of producers’ commitment to improving their grassland management standards.
He explained:
“Previously, we would have received the results of a soil test result back on behalf of a customer within four days.
Right now, that period has been pushed out to almost four weeks.
Laboratories are finding it hard to cope with the increased numbers of soil samples they are having to deal with from this part of the world.
This is clear verification of the growing recognition on the part of local farmers that they must get their soils right, in order to maximise the levels of grass output that they can achieve.”
Getting soil pH value up to their optimal level of 6.5 both improves soil structure and quality while also acting to improve crop nutrient availability.
“The average soil pH value on local farms is below 6.0,” Bobby confirmed.
“If this value can be brought up to a value closer to 6.5, the utilisation of applied fertilisers and the nutrients already in the soils will increase by around 20%.
Getting soil acidity levels requires the addition of lime. The price of this uniquely valuable soil conditioner has not increased significantly over recent months. Adding lime, as required, is the best investment that farmers can make.”
He added:
“The results of a soil test can be used to develop the most effective fertiliser plan possible for an entire farm, making use of both animal manures plus chemical nitrogen (N) potash (K) phosphate (P) and sulphur (S).
From a practical point of view, farmers should not soil test after slurry has been spread on ground or this will lead to inaccurate results being obtained. In the case of those farmers who have not yet put slurry out, soil testing is still an option.
Fertiliser prices
Bobby Irwin confirmed that fertiliser prices have doubled over the past 12 months.
“This situation is not likely to change during the first half of 2022. And, to be honest, no one is in a position to predict how markets are going to react during the second half of the year,” he commented.
“But even with the fertiliser prices at current levels, grazed grass and silage will represent, by far, the cheapest and best value for money feeds available to livestock farmers in 2022.”
There’s no doubting the ability of local farmers to grow excellent crops of high quality grass.
“But, just like any other crop, grass must be fed accordingly. And cutting back fertiliser levels this year could well turn out to be a false economy,” Bobby confirmed.
“One obvious knock-on effect of this approach will be the availability of less silage next winter.
Forage quality will also be diminished.
Economic analysis recently presented by AFBI confirms that nitrogen at £300/t will give an economic payback of approximately 5.5:1.0 in terms of the grass output produced. However, at current prices, this ratio falls to about 2.5: 1.0.
But the fact remains that fertiliser, even at current prices, represents a more than competitive investment on every grassland farm in 2022,” said Bobby.
“If farmers cannot grow the grass they need, then they will have to fill the gap with concentrate.
A good dairy ration is currently costing over £300/t currently. And here too prices are continuing to rise as we go into the spring season.
Given this backdrop, the benefits of growing good crops of high quality grass this year become more than obvious.”
According to the United Feeds’ representative, cutting back on fertiliser nitrogen and sulphur will also reduce grass quality.
“Protein levels, particularly in silages, will be impacted significantly if this approach is taken. And, again this will mean farmers having to buy more expensive, concentrate-based protein next winter if this scenario unfolds.”
Bobby stressed the importance of including sulphur in all grassland fertiliser programmes.
“It is a plant nutrient that we are inherently deficient in. There is insufficient levels in animal manures and slurries to meet the full needs of grass crops.
Sulphur plays a critical role in determining overall grass yields and the protein levels within our forages.
And in order to get the level of performance that we need, farmers should actively include sulphur in the fertiliser plans they develop every year.”
Fertiliser availability
According to Bobby Irwin, the fertiliser dilemma now facing local farmers has less to do with price albeit expensive but more to do with product supply when they need it.
He explained:
“There were significant quantities of fertiliser bought in Northern Ireland during the last months of 2021 and in the first weeks of this year. Those farmers have their fertiliser requirements secured.
However, this level of activity dropped back almost entirely once we got into February. Many farmers decided to wait and see how the fertiliser markets develop as the spring months approach.
We now believe that fertiliser prices are unlikely to fall during the spring months. However, as demand dropped-off at farmer level, fertiliser importers have been reluctant to commit to consignments for the months ahead, which, if there is to be enough fertiliser to meet demand in March/April it would really need to be on ships heading this way now.
Farmers recognise that they will need their normal supplies of fertiliser to get them through Spring 2022.
But making that happen will require farmers getting in touch with their suppliers and registering their intentions for the season ahead.
My concern would be for those farmers who continue to delay in making that call.
Under such circumstances, it could really be a case of not getting the fertiliser they want when they actually need it!”
Building on 2021
For the most part, dairy cows and beef cattle will be going out to grass in good condition over the coming weeks. Bobby explained:
“The vast majority of autumn calving cows were housed last back end with good body condition scores.
As a consequence, they calved down well and then went on to produce large volumes of high quality milk.
He added:
“Initial reports are confirming that milk producers are getting these animals back into calf with little or no difficulty.
All of this bodes well in terms of how these animals will perform at grass over the coming months.
The spring calving season is now well underway. And the reports coming back off-farm would indicate that cows performing to expectation.
All of this good news can be traced back to the good grass year that was 2021 and the fact that silage quality and availability has not been an issue over recent months.”
Improving grassland management standards is also an important take-home message for beef farmers.
“Silage is not that big a component within finishing rations. But it is a vitally important constituent of the diets fed to growing and store cattle,” Bobby Irwin explained.
“So again the message is a very simple one: making good silage will improve livestock growth rates while also reducing farmers’ reliance on compound feeds.
This represents a win:win scenario.”
He concluded:
“Maximising daily live weight gains from beef cattle at grass is critically important. The benefits of beef farmers utilising a paddock based grazing system in this context are obvious.
“There is a growing interest in dairy calf-to-beef systems at the present time. However, calves that are younger than six months of age will not be able to fully utilise diets that contain large quantities of grazed grass.
This is because their rumens have not fully developed. As a consequence, calves that are put onto grass-only diets at too young an age can develop a condition called summer scour.
On that basis, I would strongly advise that weanlings are not put out into a full grazing scenario until, they are at least six months of age.
