Weather is the pressing issue on most farms at present.

While the amount of rain falling on a daily basis is not massive, it is the cumulative effect of rain nearly every day for the past number of weeks that is causing the problems.

Many herds on heavy land have had to be housed. If too much damage is being done and all the other avenues have been pursued then this is the right decision, frustrating and all as it may be.

Grazing drier paddocks, using multiple gaps, using strip wires, allocating grass every 12 hours, on/off grazing and back-fencing are a major help at reducing poaching and these will need to be used to get cows back out grazing again.

Good news

The good news on the weather front is that an improvement is forecast for the weekend and into next week.

The downside is that, on many farms, the effect of the heavy rain will linger as drying conditions are poor with shorter days and not a lot of sunshine. If cows are to get silage, prioritise the higher-quality silage first.

On most farms this is bale silage from surplus paddocks taken in May and June.

Even on herds out full-time, some level of supplementation is probably advised as grass dry matters are low and you need to protect body condition score, especially as many herds are walking longer distances as rotation length is approaching peak.

One or two kilos of good-quality silage or meal per cow per day should suffice to keep dry matter intakes up. It can always be taken back out of the diet when weather improves.

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