November has hit and for many it’s spelled the end of the grazing season.

Ground conditions have just gotten too sticky and/or grass dry matter has dropped to a point where it is just running through cattle.

Lighter, leafy swards in particular will be of a low dry matter, so mixing it with some coarser swards or simply introducing some dry matter in the form of hay or straw (even just a forkful among a few cattle) can help firm things up.

The one issue a lot of farmers are talking about is stuffy sheds. It is unseasonably warm and mild, with sheds without adequate inlet or outlet spacing for ventilation becoming overly stuffy.

In this case, where there is little that you can do to correct ventilation in the short term, leaving some weanlings (which are most at risk of air-borne diseases such as pneumonia) outdoors might not be a bad idea, supplementing them with some concentrates plus some hay/straw as mentioned above.

Grass growth

Growth is excellent for the time of year and, even for some farmers who ran down cover below what it should be, some recovery of farm cover should take place where we have dropped demand below growth.

This week saw an average growth rate on dairy farms of 28kg dry matter (DM) per hectare (ha) [DM/ha].

For the same week in 2024, our growth was 25kg and for 2023 it was 17kg. Assess where farm cover is and your requirement for next spring.

Heavier farms or those with a lower stocking rate or later calving date can afford to run farm cover down more, while those with more cows calving in January or early February who would be able to get cows out then should hold cover, as this grass will be more valuable then rather than now.

Average farm cover should be a minimum of 700kg DM/ha by 1 December, so work back from this.

While we are seeing growth in the high 20s now, this will fall as the weeks go on.

It’s also worth noting that this is an average growth - it doesn’t mean that your farm is achieving it and if your farm cover is low, you are nearly definitely not hitting this figure.

If farm cover is anywhere around or below 55kg DM/ha, grazing on beef and dairy farms should cease.