GRASS MANAGEMENT STARTS NOW

Many of the decisions and actions you take in October have a big influence on how much grass you will grow next year, and consequently, your farm’s profit.

Key decisions

• What are the autumn and spring targets?
• When to start and finish the last grazing rotation?
• How to build and maintain autumn grass until November?
• Planning closing cover to hit the 1st December target.
• Soil analysis to ensure no field has a pH less than 6.3 or is below Index 3 for P and K.

Principles that drive the ‘autumn grass engine’

• Every extra day cows are at grass in autumn results in an extra €2+ profit per cow per day.
• Delaying closing by a week in autumn results in 100kg DM/ha less grass in spring.
• More grass in spring diet results in better milk yields and improved cow condition.
• Every spring grazing day results in €2.80+ profit per cow per day.
• Autumn/spring rotation planners ensure efficient grass use up to housing.
• If grass supply is low in spring, plan now. Silage supplementation should be fed in February if needed, not in March, as this will seriously harm milk yield.
• Having a lot of clover paddocks requires careful planning.
• Low autumn covers allow white clover recovery.
• Spring average farm covers (AFC) should be 900-1,100kg DM/ha by early February, depending on stocking rate and land type.
• Winter growth from December 1 to February 1 ranges from 100-400kg DM/ha. Use PastureBase to calculate what yours has been over the last three to four years, and subtract your winter growth from your spring opening cover requirement to establish your target December 1 cover.
• Target autumn AFC for 1st Dec: 650-850 kg DM/ha.
• By November 1:
  • Dry farms should have 60-70% of the milking platform grazed.
  • Heavy soils should have 80% grazed.
• Current rotation length: 40-45 days.
• Last rotation should start:
  • Around September 20 for wet/heavy farms.
  • Between October 5-10 for dry farms.
• First paddocks to be grazed next spring must:
  • Be dry, near the parlour, easily accessible, with covers of 700–900 kg DM/ha.
• Many farms are below target covers for September, and ground conditions are poor. Be proactive to stretch grass as long as possible.

Paddock groups for autumn closing:

Group 1 – 30% grazed before October 20:

• Will be grazed March 1-15.
• Further from yard, good access, dry.
• Must hit spring cover of 1,200+ kg DM/ha.

Group 2 – 30% grazed October 20-31:

• Grazed in February at 700-900kg DM/ha.
• Dry, ideally near yard, multiple access points, recently re-seeded, quick growing, some clover paddocks.

Group 3 – 40% grazed during November:

• Grazed from March 15 to early April when the second rotation begins but it may be delayed until the cover on the first three paddocks on the second rotation have at least 1,200kg DM cover per hectare.
• Clover swards, slower growing, poorer infrastructure, etc.

Table 1: Target October and closing grass covers per cow and average farm cover

Grazing tips for October

• Use 12-hour grazing blocks.
• Avoid regrowth damage – don’t allow animals back into the previous day’s grazed area.
• Graze out to 4cm.
• Use on/off grazing in wet weather (2.5-3 hour blocks).
• Develop a spur road to access difficult-to-reach paddocks.
• Silage should be fed on low-grass cover farms. Feed silage early in the night – none after midnight – to ensure cows have an appetite for grass.

Apply potash (K) now – here’s why

• 30-40% of fields are below target K levels (Index 3–4).
• No restrictions to using it (unlike with N and P).
• Autumn is best for applying K:
  • Improves nitrogen efficiency in spring.
  • Reduces spring grass tetany risk.
• Reduces luxury uptake of K.
• Grazing maintenance level: 25-30 units/acre.
• Raise low Index fields: +30-50 units/acre. An extra 30-50 units/acre will be required to raise low index fields to index 4 levels.
• Two-cut silage removes 160-200 units K/acre. Apply slurry (30 units/1,000 gal) to help.
• With good cashflow, investing in K will increase grass yield by 2-3t of DM/ha.

Lime Is the number one investment

• Highest ROI (up to 200%).
• Improves P and N availability, soil biology, worm activity, and supports clover.
• Aim for pH 6.3+.
• Soil test now and apply this autumn.

DO THE LAST ROTATION PLAN!

• Use PastureBase – most farmers are already doing this.
• It allocates daily hectares from October 6 – November 25.
• Goals:
  • Graze 60-80% by November 1.
  • Long rest period ensures February grass – over 90% of the grass available for cows then will have grown this October/November.
  • If the area allocated doesn’t give enough grass, indicated by post-grazing height, then cows must be supplemented with meals or, preferably, very good quality baled silage.
  • If there is a lot of grass in the area, post-grazing, you either measured the area incorrectly or you do not have enough cows for the farm, or you are feeding to much silage and/or meals.
• Weekly measuring and PastureBase tracking means you will stay on target.
• If you cannot graze (e.g., after wet week) you will go off target and you must double area grazed the next week.

BODY CONDITION SCORE (BCS) COWS NOW

This is the first of six BCS assessments annually – and probably the most important.

• Thin cows won’t calve or milk well.
• For every 50kg BCS deficit (one condition score is 40-50kg), a cow will produce 450l less milk.

Management options if thin cows are identified in October

• Dry off now for a long dry period so she can put on weight.
• With 120 days to calving for February calvers, no meals will be needed with good silage.
• Once-a-day milking (OAD).
• Feed low-protein ration.

Waiting until November means that the only option is expensive meal feeding.

To assess BCS accurately

• Run cows through the crush, feel tail head, ribs, short ribs, and backbone.
• If unsure, ask advisor, raise it with your discussion group, or hire someone to do it for you.

BCS targets

• Drying off: 3.0-3.25.
  • Generally, they will calve down in same condition as dried off.
• Cows below 2.75 must be earmarked for special attention.
  • A 0.5 BCS deficit, at least 25kg below target condition means she will have to be fed an extra 130kg meal.
  • Feed 2kg/day for 10 weeks (excluding first/last two weeks of dry period).
  • Therefore, she requires a 14-week dry period.

Which cows should be dried off from October 15:

• BCS < 2.75.
• First lactation cows calving early.
• Cows milking < 7-8L/day.
• SCC > 300,000.
• Consider selling, housing, or moving these off grazing platform.

Remember, a long dry period is the only way to improve condition in high-merit thin cows.

CHANGES TO EBI (Sept 2025):

• New base year – 2015.
• Overall EBI has decreased by €65.
• The following Sub-Indices have decreased:
  • Milk: -€38
  • Fertility: -€28
  • Calving: -€15
  • Management: -€3
• The following Sub-Indices have increased:
  • Carbon: +€3
  • Beef: +€4
  • Maintenance: +€8
  • Health: +€3

New base cow averages:

• Milk: 6,287 kg (6,104L)
• Fat: 264 kg (4.2%)
• Protein: 226 kg (3.6%)
• MS: 490 kg (7.8%)
• Avg. calving interval: 385 days
• Avg. survival: 85.6%

Use new maintenance figure to predict cow liveweight

• Cow weight formula (Table 2):
  Weight = 601.67 + (Maintenance × –1.7349) = cow weight

Table 2: Predicted liveweight of a Holstein-Friesian cow based on new maintenance sub-index (2025).

ICB makes the following observations:

• Milk PTA is a good predictor of milk litres but not a good predictor of milk solids or Milk Value (current milk price 47.5c/l used),
• Milk SI is a very good predictor of milk value per cow.
• EBI is the best predictor of profit.

ICB makes the following challenges:

• The majority of herds are negative for milk kg/L.
• Farmers need to focus on milk sub-index and not milk kg.
• Address the maintenance changes and implications.

BIG TAX BILL YEAR – ACT NOW!

• This year will be a big tax bill year, therefore, take steps to minimise by making worthwhile autumn investments.
• Talk to your accountant – project 2025 tax now.
• Make wise investments:
  • Spread lime and extra P/K to boost soil indices = 150% return on investment (ROI).
  • Improve grazing infra-structures such as roadways, fencing, water = 58% ROI.
  • Pay bills before year-end.
  • Pension top-up?
  • Rainy-day fund.
  • Invest in slurry storage, calf sheds, extra milking units.
  • Forward-buy fertiliser, feed, minerals before year-end (get 2–3 quotes).

Replacement checks and actions

• Replacement heifer management revolves around their actual weights relative to targets.

Table 3: Target weights (kg) for replacement weanling (R1s) and in-calf heifers (R2s) on October 1.

Actions:

• Small R1 calves below target should get 1-1.5kg meal (16-18% P) to meet target weight on April 1.
• All animals below target weights must be taken away from main mob and given priority treatment.
• For every 20kg below target, animals must be fed 100kg extra meal.
• It must be remembered that animals that are much heavier than target weights are also a liability as they will underperform when milking and will be culled out of the herd sooner. No meal for them!
• Small R2s need 1-2kg meal (12-14% P), otherwise they will calve down too light, resulting in 450L lower milk yields for every 50kg below target weight at calving.
• Fewer of them will go in calf during the first three weeks of breeding in 2026.
• Scan now and sell any heifers not in-calf.
• If >7-8% not in-calf, investigate why.
• Have you vaccinated for salmonella?
• If any weanlings show symptoms of hoose (coughing), stomach worms (sticky dung on tail head) or fluke (scouring and other signs) have them treated as they will not maximise weight gain.
• Same applies to contract-reared stock.

SOIL & FEED ANALYSIS – DO IT NOW

• Silage: test DMD and minerals.
  • Helps plan winter feeding.
  • Mineral analysis gives insight into April-May grass deficiencies.
• Vet tests: dung samples, blood samples, milk samples.
  • Plan dosing schedules.
  • Do dry cow sensitivity testing now.
  • Consult your vet in relation to dry cow treatment and a sensitivity test.
• Soil samples: build indices to 3 & 4.

Brief notes:

• Use soiled water (1,000–1,500 gal/acre) on clover/new reseeds.
• It is uneconomical to feed cows more than 2-3kg meal (15% P) now.
• Lameness:
  • Consider Farm Relief Service assessment.
  • Use footbath three consecutive days once or twice a month.
  • Observe cow movement from parlour.
• Make a job list – a stitch in time saves nine.
• Forage needs (kg DM/animal/day):
  • Cows: 11kg
  • Weanlings: 4.7kg
  • In-calf heifers:9 kg
• Feed surplus? Consider finishing beef weanlings for April sale.
• Avoid compaction:
  • No grazing or machinery in wet conditions.
• For your information, in trials in Clonakilty, Moorepark and Athenry in 2025 protected urea (9.4 t DM/ha) outyielded CAN (9.2 t DM/ha) at all application rates in six rotations.

Quote of the month

“High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectations.” - Charles Kettering