Spring’s here. The sun has been shining, the temperature is creeping up, and yes, the grass is greening, writes Barenbrug’s Agricultural Product Manager Janet Montgomery. Surely turn-out’s just days away.
Only if you’re observing the meteorological calendar, where the official winter-to-spring transition occurred on 1st March. Those of us with a more traditional view of the seasons will be holding out for the spring equinox of 20th March – when daylight hours finally exceed those of darkness – to mark the change in season.
Either way, when it comes to grass, both the astronomical and the meteorological calendars are no more than a distraction. The only thing of importance is what’s happening in the field. And much of that will be the result of what happened at the tail end of 2024.
That’s because one of the biggest influences on spring grass growth is how much cover was left in the fields in the autumn, and how much rest those fields needed over winter to be in sufficient good order to provide the desired spring cover.
Spring Cover
What that spring cover looks like, or what it’s capable of, all depends on your plans for it. Your target – measured in kilograms of dry matter per hectare (DM kg/ha) – should be reached by the time you’re lambing, calving, or simply for turn-out after housing.
To achieve that, the grass must be given its best shot. And you’ll not do that by near-religious observance of a circled date on the calendar! Restock those fields before they’re ready, too early, too soon – and not only will the covers not be enough to sustain them, you’ll also find yourself facing the knock-on effects for the rest of the season…
…which is why it’s important to have the Farm Fodder Flow (FFF) principles foremost in your mind. How can you match your farm’s productive capacity to your animals’ dietary requirements? Careful planning, assessments and projection are the key.
Right now, you’ll have a good idea of how much longer your conserved feed is likely to last. My advice is to keep using it until you’ve emptied the clamp. If you’ve enough feed to keep things in the shed, do it. It’s feed that’s already paid for. Your fields will thank you, and you might even find that it gives you extra ‘breathing space’ later in the season – FFF principles coming into play – to close off an extra field to take an extra cut, and thus make use of a grass excess to cover a possible later shortfall.
The final check is in the soil: its moisture, and its temperature. Be sure both are ‘in range’ before you sign off on that turn-out decision: moisture, to avoid any possible damage to soil structure, and temperature, because unless soil temperatures have reached 5°C, then the grass isn’t growing.
To sum it all up? Good grass comes to those who wait; don’t be too quick to open the gate.
