19 October 2025
As November edges closer, farmers are reminded to re-focus their attentions on autumn closing in order to ensure sufficient grass availability next spring. As part of its weekly newsletter, the Teagasc Grass10 team has shared some tips to achieve just that.
With an average farm cover (AFC) of 854kg DM/ha (298kg DM/LU) having been recorded on farms measuring grass through PastureBase Ireland, the Grass10 team encourages all farms to now follow the autumn rotation planner.
Key targets include: 60-70% grazed by November 1, while on heavier farms this needs to be over 70%. The Grass10 team also reminded farmers that those on heavy land or high stocking rates (>3 LU/ha) should have 30-35% closed, while farms aiming to close in mid-November, should have 15-20% of the farm closed this week. For more information, view the Teagasc autumn grazing targets in table 1 below.
Table 1: Autumn grazing targets
Date
Cover/cow (kg DM)
Average farm cover (kg DM/ha)
Rotation length
Stocking rate of 2.5 LU/ha
October 1
400
1,000
40 days
November 1
60% of your grazing platform should be closed for Spring at this stage
Fully housed
600
Stocking rate of 3.0+ LU/ha
October 1
380
1,150
40 days
November 1
65-75% of your grazing platform should be closed for Spring at this stage
Fully housed
650-700
Heavy land (cannot have pre-grazing covers over 2,000kg DM/ha)
October 1
330
850-950
35 days
November 1
80-100% of your grazing platform should be closed for Spring at this stage
Fully housed
550-600
In terms of current grazing management, the Grass10 team shared the following tips:
- Growth rates will soon drop below current demand on many farms.
- 20% of farms have an average farm cover below 700kg DM/ha, this is also the target closing cover. These farms cannot graze more than the farm grows from now until closing.
- Predicted growth is 30kg DM/ha on average, grass demand cannot be higher than growth.
- The rest of the diet must come from other forage and meal
- If growth is 30kg DM/ha and the farm has a stocking rate of 3 LU/ha, grass intake per cow must be less than 10kg
- 40% of farms have AFC above 900 kg DM/ha, AFC on these farms can now reduce by an average of 70-80kg per week
- Current conditions are allowing for optimal clean-outs on most farms, which is ideal for carrying the larger covers over the winter period.
- On heavier farms, this week is an ideal opportunity to graze heavier covers (>2000 kg DM/ha) and any paddocks with poor infrastructure.
For more tips and advice from the Grass 10, view its weekly newsletter here.
Grass10 Podcast: Autumn closing and lime
For this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, John Maher discusses current grazing advice and closing up for early spring grass. It’s a great opportunity to spread lime – the cheapest fertiliser one can buy.
Listen in below:
More from Teagasc Daily: Grassland management for the 2026 spring period starts now
More from Teagasc Daily: October grazing – a guide from the Future Beef team
