Grass Growth
Grass growth has seen a slight improvement on last week’s data thanks to more favourable conditions. However, some regions have remained static. Good grassland management is essential to optimise grazing quality, this includes the monitoring of sward heights to ensure target entry and residual covers are achieved, managing rotation lengths, paddocks within a rotation and stocking densities.
Grass Availability
As predicted, average sugar levels have continued to fall this week to 8% DM alongside crude protein levels that have continued to rise to an average of 21.9% DM. As a result, the ratio Crude protein to sugars is away from the optimised 2:1 and compromises nitrogen use efficiency in the rumen. This will also likely be indicated by a rising NFEPB value and will be reflected in increasing NFEPB milk loss. To understand the extent of this and adjust rations accurately individual farm forage analysis should be undertaken.
