Tips to improve the quality of grazing swards

Michael O’Donovan joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge to give tips and advice to improve the quality of grazing swards. Michael explains that farmers should maintain pre-grazing herbage mass of 1,300-1,600 kg DM/ha to maximise the leaf content and achieve good graze out with any cover that exceeds that should be removed in the form of surplus bales. If the farm is not in surplus and there is a build-up of stem and seed heads, Michael recommends such paddocks can be topped. Michael recognises protected Urea as an appropriate Nitrogen fertiliser product at a rate of 25-30 units. Considering autumn reseeding, he acknowledges August is a suitable month to reseed and has top tips for reseeding include establishing a fine firm seed bed, using a post emergence spray and grazing at a low cover of 600-800 kg DM/ha.   For more information: https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/grassland/grass10/grass10-newsletter/ For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/