John McCabe’s Tips for Spring Grazing

An episode of the The Dairy Edge podcast, hosted by Teagasc, titled "John McCabe’s Tips for Spring Grazing" was published on February 17, 2025 and runs 25 minutes.

February 17, 2025 ·25m · The Dairy Edge

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Summary

John McCabe, Teagasc/Aurivo Joint Programme Advisor, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to cover tips on grazing in spring. John first gives a range of scenarios that he has heard from across the country. He encourages people to get grazing if not already. For those who are, they need to manage their grazing to ensure they don’t leave themselves short of grass at the end of the 1st round. John advises to get cows into the habit of grazing by grazing lower cover – this will also help get ground grazed off and growing for the 2nd rotation. Then move to the heavier cover to take it off before it starts to deteriorate in mid-March. This will also aid recovery of this type of ground. Finally John says that it is very important to get early N out in the right conditions asap. The equivalent of a bale of silage/ha is up for grabs by doing it and if you’re not in a position to do, seek the help of a contractor as you cannot afford to miss the early application of fertiliser. For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/ The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com

Episode Description

John McCabe, Teagasc/Aurivo Joint Programme Advisor, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to cover tips on grazing in spring.

John first gives a range of scenarios that he has heard from across the country. He encourages people to get grazing if not already. For those who are, they need to manage their grazing to ensure they don’t leave themselves short of grass at the end of the 1st round.

John advises to get cows into the habit of grazing by grazing lower cover – this will also help get ground grazed off and growing for the 2nd rotation. Then move to the heavier cover to take it off before it starts to deteriorate in mid-March. This will also aid recovery of this type of ground.

Finally John says that it is very important to get early N out in the right conditions asap. The equivalent of a bale of silage/ha is up for grabs by doing it and if you’re not in a position to do, seek the help of a contractor as you cannot afford to miss the early application of fertiliser.

For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/

The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com