Date set for the 2016 AGM SECTION 1 events Thursday 15th September at 10am Heritage Hotel Killenard, Co. Laois The 2016 AGM of the <strong>Irish</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> <strong>Association</strong> will take place on Thursday 15th September at the Heritage Hotel, Killenard, Co. Laois at 10am. All members are entitled to attend, and it is a good opportunity to see how the <strong>Association</strong> operates and it is also an opportunity for members to become involved in the Council. Each year a number of seats on Council are available to be filled through election. All members of the <strong>Irish</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> <strong>Association</strong> are eligible to put their names forward for election. If you wish to put your name forward, then your name along with the name of a member who is nominating you and the name of a member seconding that nomination must be received by the Office Manager two weeks before the AGM, this year that date is the 1st of September. As well as the election, a round up of the year’s activities will be presented, as will the 2014 accounts. It has being a successful year again for the <strong>Irish</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> <strong>Association</strong> and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in running our events. I look forward to meeting you at the AGM. Registration to attend this meeting is essential. Please email Maura Callery secretary@irishgrassland.com by Thursday 1st September if you wish to attend this AGM. Karen Dukelow ____________________ Karen Dukelow President of the <strong>Irish</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> <strong>Association</strong> 2015/16 IGA Sheep Conference and Farm Walk Over 100 farmers and industry delegates attended the <strong>Irish</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> <strong>Association</strong> sheep conference and farm walk, sponsored by G€N€ IR€LAND and Mullinahone Coop, in Aughrim, Co Wicklow, on Tuesday 26 April. A focus running through the event was the importance of grassland management and its potential to underpin profitable enterprises. This was evident in all of the presentations at the morning conference and again in the afternoon on the farm of John Pringle which comprises a 50-cow suckler-to-beef herd and a flock of 250 mature ewes and 70 yearling hoggets with their lambs. Conference There is massive potential on <strong>Irish</strong> livestock farms to increase the volume of grass grown and utilised. This was the view of Micheál O’Leary, Teagasc Moorepark, in his presentation explaining PastureBase Ireland, Teagasc’s web-based grassland management tool, in operation since 2013. Micheál showed that from drystock farms measuring regularly in 2015, there was a range in the volume of grass dry matter (DM) produced from 9.1t DM/ha to 14.7t DM/ha. Breaking up the year into three periods of spring (1 January to 10 April), summer (11 April to 10 August) and autumn (11 August to 31 December), he also showed that grass growth varies greatly in spring with a range of 0.5t DM/ha to 1.7t DM/ha. This accounts for 8% of yearly growth in a typical year, with 61% in summer and 31% in autumn. While on the topic, Micheál described 2016 to date being far from the typical year, with grass growth running 40% behind previous years’ levels. The drivers behind early spring grass growth were summarised into six areas as follows: 1. Early closing: A balance needs to be achieved between extending the grazing season and closing a sufficient Darren Carty, <strong>Irish</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> <strong>Association</strong> Council and <strong>Irish</strong> Farmers Journal percentage of ground from October onwards to safeguard the potential for early grazing. “Every week delay in closing from 2 October reduces spring grass supply by 77kg DM/ha.” 2. Closing cover: Farms with higher growth rates had a higher average closing cover, putting the farms in a strong position to capitalise on early grazing. 3. Winter growth: This, according to Micheál, is influenced 50% by weather and 50% by the farmer. “If you close at too low of covers, ground will be more exposed and more at risk to poor weather which in turn will translate into lower winter growth.” 4. Spring N application: The application date of spring nitrogen will have a big bearing on grass growth. This will also be influenced by the fertility status of the soil to stimulate a response and the composition of the sward (new perennial rye grass swards respond quicker). 5. Spring grass management: Getting stock out early, if possible, will get covers grazed off quicker and grass growing quicker. “Farms that had stock out early and finished the first grazing rotation by 10 April grew 200kg DM/ha more spring grass and 1.1t more annual grass in 2015 (12.2t v 11.1t). 6. Grass growth: Micheál says this is influenced 50% by weather and 50% by the farmer through management practices listed above. A lot of drystock and sheep farmers are not getting enough grazing out of their paddocks, according to Micheál. “Large fields are not producing as stock are in there too long. This affects quality and liveweight gain and also limits the volume of grass grown (grazing regrowths). Looking at PastureBase, farms who achieved seven to <strong>Irish</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> <strong>Association</strong> - newsletter summer 2016 6 <strong>Irish</strong> <strong>Grassland</strong> <strong>Association</strong> - newsletter summer 2016 7