Reports from farmers over the weekend suggest that between 20mm and 30mm of rain fell over most parts of the country since Friday.

To be fair, the two weeks prior to last weekend brought exceptionally good weather with little or no rainfall in most parts, so there is an element that ground can take rain.

However, opportunities for drying are limited enough and getting fewer and fewer as the year moves on so any rain that falls now is likely to have a negative impact on ground conditions.

There is no doubt that grazing at this time of year is bonus territory for many farmers on heavier soils. The challenge now is to try to extend the grazing season for longer, while avoiding damage and ensuring enough grass for early next spring.

Looking at Pasturebase data, average grass growth rates are in the low 30s, which is still good for the time of year.

However, anecdotal evidence would suggest that many farmers have decided to keep on milking cull cows for longer this back end, so demand remains high.

Pasturebase data would suggest that demand is in the high 30s and 40s in terms of kilos of dry matter per day, meaning more grass is being eaten per day than is being grown per day.

Unless cull cows are removed soon, the high demand will mean that grass covers are going to disappear quickly, particularly as pre-grazing yield is likely to drop over the coming week with high covers removed.

Looking at Pasturebase data, average grass growth rates are in the low 30s, which is still good for the time of year

Putting in a lot of supplement when ground conditions are wet makes already poor clean-outs worse, so keep this in mind if planning to put in more feed.

With milk prices falling, putting in more feed is questionable now anyway.

Don't forget the objective of grass based dairy farming is to harvest as much grass as possible, not necessarily produce milk, although I agree that it's hard to always agree with that statement.

Some farmers will be housing cows by night soon to slow down the rotation and keep grass in the diet for longer.

In many ways this is a personal choice because at some point the feed is going to have to be fed anyway.

From an animal performance point of view, keeping some grass in the diet is preferential because grass is high in protein and cows will milk better when there is grass being fed.