PastureBase Ireland - Capturing Grassland
Data on Irish Drystock Farms
Micheál O’Leary
Teagasc Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork
http://www.agresearch.teagasc.ie/moorepark
[email protected]
Talk Outline
• PastureBase Ireland on farm results
• Grass DM production on drystock farms
• Spring - Autumn management
• Current findings
PastureBase Ireland
• Web based grassland management decision support tool
– front end
• Grassland data base - back end
• Primary user - farmer- captures data
• Core measurement is pre-grazing herbage mass
• Data source for other projects
90.0
80.0
70.0
Kg DM/day
60.0
50.0
40.0
April Growth Rates 40% behind of 2015
30.0
2016
20.0
2015
10.0
2014
0.0
27-Nov
27-Oct
27-Sep
27-Aug
27-Jul
27-Jun
27-May
27-Apr
27-Mar
27-Feb
27-Jan
PastureBase Ireland Drystock Farms DM Production
Sheep Farms 2013
9337
1850
Sheep Farms 2014
9429
1730
Sheep Farms 2015
10780
Beef Farms 2014
1428
9905
Beef Farms 2015
1934
10856
0
2000
4000
Grazing DM
6000
Silage DM
1575
8000
10000
12000
14000
What are high producing farms doing ?
• High Soil fertility – Index 3, pH >6.0
• Routine measurement and proactive
management
• Low variation between highest and lowest
paddocks
• Spring grazing
• More grazings per farm
• Reseeding part of management
DM Production on Drystock Farm 2015 (>25 covers)
12.3 tonne/ha
DM Production Proportion by Season 2015
Spring growth variation is 5% to 15% = 0.5t DM/ha to 1.7t DM/ha
Factors Influencing Spring Grass supply
• Autumn closing date - farmer
• Closing cover - farmer
• Winter grass growth rate - 50% farmer
• Spring nitrogen application- farmer
• Spring grazing management – farmer
• Spring grass growth - 50% farmer
Spring Pasture Accumulation as influenced
by previous Autumn closing date
1200
02-Oct
10-Oct
23-Oct
06-Nov
1000
Kg DM/ha
800
600
Every Week delay in closing from October 2nd reduces
Spring grass supply by 77kg DM/ha
400
200
0
23-Nov
Spring Grazing Management - Spring 2015
1.
66% of farms had little/no stock out grazing by March 1st
2.
March 17th - 20% grazed - well below target of 40%
3.
Top producing farms are achieving 50% by March 17th
4.
45% of farms finished the first round by April 25th
5.
Farms that finished the first round pre April 10th grew +200kg DM/ha
more grass spring(1,040 vs 860kg)
6.
Farms that finished the first round pre April 10th also grew 1.1t DM/ha
more annual grass in 2015 (12.2 vs 11.1t DM/ha)
Early
sward
Earlygrazed
Grazing
Effects on Sward Characteristics
Early grazed sward
Late grazed sward
+ Milk Yield
- Low Utilisation
+ Liveweight Gain
- Poor Performance
+ Grass Growth
+ Grass Quality
Spring production and its association with
total grazing DM production
18000
y = 5.8342x + 4666.4
R² = 0.668
16000
14000
K
G 12000
10000
D
M 8000
/
h 6000
a 4000
2000
0
500
700
900
1100
1300
Spring kg DM/ha
1500
1700
1900
Number of grazing achieved per paddock and its
association with total grazing DM production
25000
y = 1385.9x + 1811.2
R² = 0.7302
20000
K
g
15000
D
M
/ 10000
h
a
5000
0One
0
extra grazing achieved per paddock is 1,385kg DM/ha of extra grass
2
4
6
8
Number of grazings
10
12
14
16
Number of grazing achieved per farm and its
association with total number of paddocks
Number of grazings per farm
200
180
160
y = 5.7028x - 7.8446
R² = 0.6905
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
Every extra paddock created on a farm will give 5 extra grazings per farm
0
8
13
18
23
28
Number of farm paddocks
33
38
Take home messages
 Huge potential exists to grow more grass - improvements
in grazing management
 Spring grazing management
 Mid-season - adhere to rotation length
 Adequate number & size of paddocks
 Grass is a crucial feed for liveweight gain & milk
production
 Grass measurement is now part of grassland management
Thank you for your attention
[email protected]
087-9309936