2026 FARM CALENDER YEAR STARTS NOW

• September is the month to set yourself up for 2026.
• Your 270-day grazing season plan starts now.
• Review the 2025 breeding season.
• Replacement heifers must be managed properly to achieve target weight.
• Cow body condition plan starts in late September or early October.
• Plan your animal healthcare now, this will set you up for the year.
• Financial review is necessary to minimise tax bill and start the financial plan for next year.
• Test silage, soil and animal health status now.

COW-HERD GRAZING SEASON OF 270 DAYS

• Milk from grazed grass is one of Ireland’s key marketing logos. I have set a target of 270 days at grass for the whole herd.
• This is influenced by:
  • Let-out date, which is influenced by:
    • Ground conditions.
    • The amount of grass available.
    • Farmer attitude.
  • Housing date, which is influenced by:
    • Ground conditions.
    • The amount of grass available.
    • Farmer attitude.
  • Calving pattern
    • This has a major influence because cows that have not calved are not let out to grass; hence, the need for compact calving.
• As every day of extra grazing is worth €2.80 per cow, we must strive to graze grass for as many days in the year as our farms allow.
  • A 10-day – even if only three hours per day – increase in the grazing season increases profits by €28/cow and reduces the carbon footprint by 1.7 per cent.
• The first task, now, is to do your autumn rotation plan on PastureBase:
  • You must decide on the start (range September 20 to October 10) and finish (range from October 15 to November 25) dates for last rotation.
    • But you, the manager, must challenge yourself to maximise these dates.
  • Discussion groups should ensure all members are doing it. If not, the facilitator should help.
• Also, a grass-feed budget covering the period from now until May is a ‘must-do’ task – consult your adviser for help if necessary:
  • This is important to guarantee the correct closing
    (750kg DM/ha – 900kg DM/ha) and opening covers next spring (900kg DM/ha – 1,100kg DM/ha).
  • It will help to save on meal and silage costs.
  • It will show you when to expect high covers and when actions are necessary.
  • When to dry off and cull cows.
  • When to introduce meal. The plan must be such that low levels of meal are fed before October 1 (then start with 2kg) and when to increase to 3kg (not before November 1).
  • Quantity of baled silage to be introduced, and when – none before November 1 if possible.
  • And, finally, when to house all cows – they must be kept out as long as possible on grass but be guided by the target closing farm cover.
• To do the budget you must know a few bits of information before you start:
  • Intake per cow and autumn average farm cover (AFC) targets. See Table 1.
  • Friesian cows, milking 1.4kg MS/day will require 16.5kg DM/day, while Jersey Xs require 3.6 per cent less or 16kg. This will decrease as the MS yield decreases from month to month.
  • You will also need to know the calving pattern, preferably by week (make a good ‘guestimate’) for next spring.
  • You will also need to know the potential growth rates on your farm for autumn and spring. PastureBase will give you previous years’ performance and if you have not done before they will give you county/regional figures for planning. It is usually 3-5kg DM/day from December 1 to February 1.

You will also need to know the AFC targets for next spring:

Depending on stocking rate (SR) the target opening AFC in February should be 900kg DM/ha – 1,100kg DM/ha.

The target in early April should be 600kg DM/ha – 700kg DM/ha to facilitate SR of 3.5 to 4.3 cows per hectare of grazing from mid-April – this allows the farm to maximise the area for first-cut silage.

Table 1: Target September grass covers per cow and average farm cover.

• Rotation length for September 1, 15, 30 should be 30, 35 and 40 days, respectively.
• In September you are grazing the second last rotation, and it is very important to get yourself grazing the correct paddocks now so that you will be grazing the correctly situated paddocks in the spring:
  • Obviously, you should be able to graze the driest paddocks first in spring and they should also be near the milking parlour.
• As a general principle you should graze the silage ground twice before closing in April. This will have a major influence on which paddocks to graze first and last in the last two autumn rotations.
  • If you want to close fields for silage on April 1, for cutting on May 20-25, then you must graze approximately half your paddocks before starting to graze the silage area from around March 15 to April 1 and graze other eight to 10 paddocks from April 1-10 (magic day).
  • This grazing sequence must be mirrored in the September and October rotations.
  • If you plan to graze the silage area twice before closing, with an average closing date of April 15, and a six-week cutting date of June 10, then you must graze your silage area first in spring and again from April 10-20.
  • Again, this must be mirrored in September/October rotations.
  • This may sound complicated but talk to your adviser and Discussion Group for clarification as it is worth a lot of money in savings on meal, and higher milk solids.

LAST NITROGEN

• The amount of N – protected urea – you can use now depends on how you have managed your nitrogen allocation use to date this year – check with your adviser.
  • If you have no allowance but you have slurry or soiled water available, you should cover as many acres as possible to maximise the benefit of the N therein.
• All your bag N must be used before September 15.
  • If you spread after that, you are subject to penalty and response is poor.
  • To be able to apply 20 units/acre on all acres at milking platform, farmers must apply none or very little on outside land blocks.
  • Because of low grass covers on farms this year, bulk spread all your N over the whole farm in early September – this will maximise growth to build up grass.
• Your last day for spreading slurry is October 1.
  • It would be a good idea to delay spreading – until September
    15-30 – any ‘left over’ slurry because the N therein will contribute to grass growth and grass ‘protection’ in November – a kind of anti-freeze effect.
• What are the recommended rates of N in September? Depends on the clover content (%) (see Table 2).
  • It is worth noting, because of the growth rates achieved in August and the mineralisation of N, there may be no N required at low stocking.

Table 2: Recommended rates of N for different % clover content.

• Low stocked farms – 2.24 cows per hectare or less – need no N because the N is already spread, and ‘background’ N is adequate to grow the amount of grass required.

ANALYSE SILAGE, SOIL DUNG SAMPLES!

• Silage should now be analysed for feeding value and for minerals.
• With a feed analysis you can estimate the quantity of feed you have available in dry matter and feeding value.
  • You will know whether to buy straw for over-fat cows; how much meal to feed to thin cows and, more importantly, you will know which silage to keep for feeding to milking cows in spring.
  • The mineral analysis will indicate to you what you need in a pre-calving mineral mix and what minerals may be deficient in cows’ next breeding season.
• Soil testing should be done, particularly if not done for a few years. There is only one way out of low N allowances and that is to have soil fertility at optimum levels. Fertiliser, lime, P and K grow grass!
  • It is essential to apply lime at every chance you get to increase pH on every acre to 6.5.
• Talk to your vet about dung analysis.

ANIMAL HEALTH

• September is a big preventative care month!
• Salmonella, could put a farmer out of business, resulting in cow abortions at seven to nine months.
  • Vaccination must be done in early September.
  • The chances are in-calf heifers are being done for the first time and need two injections, three weeks apart, the second one before late September. This is very important because the animal has no protection for two weeks after the second injection. So, she could abort.
• It is essential to vaccinate weanling replacement now for leptospirosis at six months’ old – be guided by drug type advice.
• Watch out for hoose among weanlings:
  • Yellow/white doses will kill hoose worms and give two to three weeks’ protection and longer with good grassland management.
  • There is gross over-use of antiemetics in the control of worm parasites in calves – this is going to lead to resistance. Therefore, only dose if you really have to – take veterinary advice.
• Fluke (stomach fluke) may be a problem on some farms.
  • It is worth getting dung samples analysed (cost €50) to confirm presence of fluke (particularly for dry farms).
• Vasectomise male calves now to prepare for next year:
  • If you do not have any, go out and buy (one per 50 cows at least); he will be a great supplement to heat detection next year.
• Mastitis/high SCC: Some serious offenders (2+ cases/year) should be dried off now while young cows who are a problem should undergo the CMT test and acted on.

WHEN TO SELL CULL COWS?

• When choosing cows to cull, you must consider more than reproductive performance. The potential they have if they remain in the herd and create additional profit must be weighed against the cost of keeping them.
• Prepare a cull list, which could be refined into ‘must cull’ and ‘would like to cull’ categories.
  • The ‘must cull’ list would include:
    • Cows that are empty (scan now to confirm).
    • Lame cows (three to four times this year).
    • Mastitis cows with three to four high SCC readings and two to three clinical cases in the year.
    • When to sell these is the question?
  • With cull cows making €6/kg out of the parlour and a very good milk/meal cost ratio and plenty of good silage available, it would seem as if cull cow sales should be delayed until December.
  • From September to December, it looks as if they could generate a profit of €400-€500 each.
  • Remember keeping cows on the milking platform (MP) in the autumn adds:
    • Higher grazing demands on the MP.
    • Could push you outside the derogation stocking limit.
    • Complications to a farming system when silage has to be fed from October, resulting in a greater workload.
  • The ‘would like to cull’ cows that are pregnant, should be decided on the following basis:
    • Projected to calve later than mid-April 2026.
    • Old cows with low levels of mastitis, some lameness.
    • Cows yielding less than 400kg MS/year.
  • Is there an opportunity to make more farm profit next year by keeping them?
  • With replacement heifers being scarce and likely to make over €2,500 each, one must seriously keep all cows and sell surpluses, be they R2s or late calving cows next spring.

REPLACEMENTS ARE SO VALUABLE!

• Because of their potential value and the financial opportunity they present, both small weanling (R1s) and in-calf heifers (R2s) must be brought up to target weights. The plan starts now!
• In-calf heifers (R2s) have been neglected on many farms over the last few years at this time of year:
  • Weanling heifers (R1s) must be 33% of mature weight on September 1 (170kg-190kg).
  • In-calf heifers (R2s) must be 73% of mature weight on September (400kg-430kg).
  • It is essential to weigh all replacements now (do it every three months) and take action.
• Divide up your replacement heifers now by weight:
  • Under target heifers are obviously one group but grossly overweight/fat animals are equally an issue.
    • Animals that are fat/overweight will not milk well during first lactation and neither in their lifetime. They will be more difficult to get in calf. Use these to clean out pastures after being grazed by the main mob.
    • For every 10kg an R2 is under target now she will need an extra 60kg of meal. Therefore, feed under-weight R2s, 1kg-2kg meal as well as grazing in front of the strong heifers.
    • The same principle goes for the R1s but they will require approximately 40kg meal (17%-18% P) per 10kg underweight.
    • Overweight R1s, gaining more than 0.8kg/hd/day will under-perform as cows. Therefore, graze them after the weanling mob to clean out pastures.
  • A weighing scales is a very good investment for discussion groups (one between every three to four members) – it will pay for itself in one year.
• If you have heifers out on contract, get the weights now and, based on advice here, take remedial action.

BEEF WEANLINGS – WHAT TO DO?

• For one reason or another, many dairy farmers have beef weanlings on the farm this autumn.
• With beef prices so good, because of supply and demand, farmers are wondering what they should do with them?
• They are making good money now and they will make good money whenever you decide to sell because they are scarce.
• In my opinion April is the best time to sell this sort of animal because demand is greatest then when cattle farmers have grass and all the ‘hardship is behind them’
• If delaying sale until April, consider the following:
• Have you adequate silage for them – they require 0.8t/month?
  • Have you adequate housing space for them – a weanling requires 15-16 sq. ft per animal on slats. If less than that their daily weight gain will be greatly reduced?
  • Will they push you over your SR limits?
  • Will cashflow issues arise? It should not be a problem this year on farms,
  • When is your next TB test? Feeding them for a long period, if you have a reactor, will be a major headache.
• Do a costings now to see what price you will need to get to cover the costs:
• They will need 2kg/head/day from now until sale.
• Their autumn management will be more or less the same as that for replacement heifers, but males will need to be castrated now if grazing with heifers.

SURPLUS CASH 2025 – WHERE BEST TO INVEST?

• A great year in dairy farming will result in some free cash. This is an opportunity to ‘do the right thing’. Invest in items/buildings which give greatest return to future farming and savings to labour. Consider some of the following:
  • Because lime, phosphorous and potash gives 152% return on their investment the whole farm should be brought up to the required standards this autumn.
  • Reseeding gives an 96% return, therefore, do some more reseeding in early September because the weather and ground conditions are very suitable this year.
  • By improving the farm infrastructure you will achieve a 48% return.
    • Most farm roadways need to be improved.
    • Paddocks were erected on most farms 10-15 years ago; many farmers paddocks are too small for herd sizes to give 24- or 36-hour grazings.
    • Take advice on these before doing them.
  • Slurry storage requirements are now expected to increase by 20%-30% so it will be worth starting the process of achieving this target.
  • We should target eight to nine rows of milkings per milking; this is your opportunity to achieve this target. Farmers are spending more than 33% of their time milking and the only way you improve this is by reducing the number of milking rows.
  • Labour saving investments are the future, so make a list of what would help your farm.
• Some farmers are heavily borrowed per cow, over €2,000/cow, and now is a good time to reduce that to manageable levels.
• Electricity blackouts are a source of worry; then an electricity generator may be a good investment for you.
• But one of the best investments you can make is to take a full two-weeks holiday away from the farm. There is an awful lot of talk about mental health and burn-out, but people must stop the talking and do something about it. Start with a worthwhile holiday break this autumn. To facilitate this, consider:
  • Get the relief services or family to cover for you and maybe a Discussion Group member might oversee the management of things for you.
  • Once per day milking (OAD) while away.
  • Or ‘three-in-two’ milking; that is three milkings in two days.
• The best way to deal with these suggestions of mine is:
  • Establish, approximately, what you can afford to spend.
  • With your family, prioritise what investments would give greatest benefit to the family unit.
  • Good leadership skills are required to achieve some or most suggestions given here.

BITS & PIECES

• At the end of the month or in early October, BCS the herd to start the early management of thin cows.
• Paddocks must be grazed out well (< 4cm) this rotation, otherwise, poor autumn tillering will result due too many dung-pads/tall grass areas.
• It will be hard to graze out paddock after rain as they will be very rich in N.
• Unless paddocks have very high pre-grazing covers cutting and bailing is not recommended in September.
• Reseeds: Do it up to mid-September, including clover in all mixes.
• Grass covers on over 60% of PastureBase farms are under target, therefore, the need for supplementation arises to prolong grazing to late October to November:
  • Good quality silage has merit as it gives greater gut-fill.
  • Some farmers will have to feed 5-6kg meal, 5-6kg DM silage and the remainder grazed grass for a few weeks in early September to achieve reasonable grass covers.
  • Palm kernel, justifiably, is being fed on some farms at 5-7kg – it is easy to feed out in paddocks.
• If you have been feeding silage during the drought, do another check on the amount of winter feed (dry matter) available and act early to remedy:
  • Straw is good value for money, and it should be a major part of fat dry cow diets next winter.
  • Farm accidents are a constant news item on Irish farms. So many near misses have been brought to my attention that we all need to ask: are we doing all in our power to prevent accidents?

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

John C Maxwell