So far, October has seen a change in weather conditions and with this needs to come a change in grazing management.

The wet conditions over the last week have certainly started to soften ground and minimising the length of time stock are on a particular area should be the priority.

The biggest challenge comes for the dairy farmer who will have a high number of cows in a small area. Cows should be on 12hr allocations and should not walk back over grazed ground. Strip wire and spur roadways have to come into play.

Growth has slowed down well with the damp and cold conditions meaning that most farmers will be already in their last rotation.

Normally the start of closing can vary from 25 September to 10 or even 15 October, which would be achievable with good growth and a mild October, which doesn’t look likely at the moment.

Allocations are the biggest challenge when moving to 12hr grazings. Continuing to measure paddocks on a weekly basis can really help here.

Uploading the information to PastureBase will give you back the number of grazings in each paddock, from which you can divide up paddocks accurately ensuring you don’t have to go over an area the second time.

You are also able to assess ground conditions and see where you can target getting stock to graze.

Finally, you can assess the percentage area grazed each week.

In order to have a good quantity of grass in February and March, you need to grow a lot of it in October. Hence getting a high percentage (close to 70%) grazed this month should be the priority.