There’s a mix of situations farmers are facing at the moment. Some have all stock in and are unlikely to get back out again, while some have a portion of lighter cattle or all stock still at grass.

For those still at grass, the delicate balancing act is to see good clean outs to encourage new growth over the winter while not poaching ground, while also grazing for as long as possible to shorten the winter without eating in to your spring grass supply.

Whatever the case, it’s important that the farm is properly set up for spring grazing in February or March.

Paddocks that are sheltered, dry, with good access and are close to the yard will likely be the first to be targeted come spring turn out.

Having covers over 1,200kg DM/ha on these when turning stock out is not the ideal. Cattle are adjusting to their new diet, and for freshly calved cows their intake is still reduced post-calving.

Heavy covers lead to a long residency period and difficulties in getting paddocks grazed off properly in the first stages of the grazing season.

The ideal covers for your first paddocks in spring will be between 700-1,100kg DM/ha.

To set yourself up for then, these paddocks should be grazed in the next week to allow for sufficient recovery over the winter.

Farmers

Shaun Diver – Tullamore Farm, Co Offaly

Bull calves have been weaned and vaccinated in preparation for housing. Bulls were housed on the straw bedded creep area, and received a yellow drench dose for worms. After our big draw of lambs a few weeks ago, there are a further 20 lambs drafted for slaughter this week.

All ewes and ewe lambs for breeding are being dipped this week in preparation for breeding, with the rams due to go out next week.

The last few days have been relatively dry but we will likely bring in the remaining cows and in-calf heifers in the next week or so to hold grass for ewes. We are busy prepping for our in-calf heifer sale, with 20 heifers from the herd on sale in Roscrea Mart on 25 October.

System Suckler to beef

Soil Type Variable

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 1,056

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 49

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 32

Ger McSweeney – Millstreet, Co Cork

Cows are on 24-hour grazing. Depending on the weather and the cover they are spending just under or over this, with the aim being to clean out paddocks as best as possible without poaching ground.

Ground is holding up well despite the rainfall we have seen this autumn.

Bull calves were weaned this week and have been housed. Meal feeding has gone up from 1kg at grass to 2kg to keep them ticking on. They received a lungworm dose last week, as there was some coughing amongst them, but this seems to have cleared it.

Heifer calves will remain at grass while the farm cover allows, with their Bovipast booster due in the next few days. The target is to keep stock out close to the end of the month.

System Suckler to beef

Soil Type Variable

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 768

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 28

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 35

John Hally – THRIVE Farm, Co Tipperary

We had 18mm of rain on Tuesday night. The cattle that are being fed at grass are poaching a bit around troughs. There are 28 heifers drafted for slaughter, but delays in the factory mean these won’t be killed until next Monday.

They are grazing some paddocks close to the yard so I am feeding them in the yard to limit damage. Forward bullocks are housed and on top quality silage and concentrates, which is a four-way mix at 13% crude protein.

Lighter store heifers are on grass-only, with the store bullocks still at grass receiving 2kg of concentrates since last week. They are some of the March-born calves and will be housed in the coming weeks and finished indoors.

System Dairy calf to beef

Soil Type Free draining

Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 724

Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 34

Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 20