Fertiliser: With the fine weather, many farmers are thinking of fertilising silage ground. In terms of nitrogen (N), the Teagasc advice is that a good crop of first-cut silage will require 100 units per acre and this should be spread at least 50 days before cutting. Therefore, ground destined to be cut in late May will need N now. About 25% of the N applied to date will still be available. So if 30 units/acre has been spread for grazing, around eight units/acre should still be available. Equally, if slurry was spread before now at a rate of say 2,500gallons/acre, then around five units/acre should still be available. I think there is scope to reduce N on silage ground. Spreading 80 units/acre is a 20% saving on N and should not impact much on yield.