Autumn grazing: Are you on track to reach your AFC targets?
We are now late into August and farms have started to build average farm cover (AFC) for the autumn months.
This ensures that there is sufficient grass available to extend the autumn grazing season.
Grazing has been a challenge this year for the majority of farmers, and as we move closer to September farms should check that they are on track to meet their targets.
Over the month of August farmers will be looking to build AFC and extend the length of the grazing rotation from around 20 days to 30 days.
From experience, most farmers are aware of the cover that is required for their farm system to ensure a supply of grass.
| Date | Cover/cow (kg DM/ha) | Average farm cover (kg DM/ha) | Rotation length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stocking rate of 2.5LU/ha August 1 Mid-August September 1 | 180 200 300 | 450 500 700 | 20 days 25 days 30 days |
| Stocking rate of 3.0LU/ha August 1 Mid-August September 1 | 180 250 330 | 550 750 990 | 20 days 25 days 30 days |
| Stocking rate of 3.5LU/ha August 1 Mid-August September 1 | 190 220 280 | 665 770 980 | 20 days 25 days 30 days |
Farmers can adjust these targets based on their own system, but what is important is that AFC has risen over the last month.
If AFC has not risen to the level required farmers need to look at options that will allow it to.
This could include increasing the area of land that the milking herd has access to or removing surplus cows from the system.
Whichever method is chosen needs to be implemented soon in order to ensure that grass supplies are sufficient moving into the final grazing months of the year.
2023 has been a wet year, which has created a number of challenges for farmers throughout.
Although keeping cows at grass is important it also needs to be balanced with ensuring that land does not become damaged.
During the coming months, farmers will likely need to use practices such as spur roadways and on/off grazing to keep cows at grass.
With this in mind, farmers should ensure they have plenty of reels and temporary posts that will allow farmers to be flexible with their grazing plans.
