KARACHI: Despite ongoing stockpiling of the new cotton crop, Pakistani mills have entered into import orders of around 300,000 bales, raising questions regarding the crop in the country.So far,.
Making silage on poor quality swards is the best policy.
Grass quality: Grass growth is very high at present. The downside of this is poor quality.
Grass quality is poor on most farms – even in Moorepark this week quality was sub-optimal. Pre-grazing yields should not exceed 1,500kg/ha, even if this means going back into paddocks at 14 to 16 day intervals.
Skip over high covers and cut them out for bales or long-term silage. Most farmers will aim to have two good-quality round bales of silage per milking cow for feeding at the shoulders of the year or during adverse weather.
Managing the grass surge
There has been an unbelievable surge in growth on farms over the last few days.
It has been a really quick turnaround, with some farms going from not enough grass to having too much grass over a two- to three-week period.
This will bring different challenges now to managing quality. The most important thing is to know how much grass you have. This will be found out ideally by measuring the grass you have in your paddocks or fields but for anybody not in a position to measure, walking the farm to assess what you have is the absolute minimum.