Frequent rainfall throughout June has led to a deterioration in ground conditions on the programme farms, with those operating on heavier land being most severely affected.

Ground conditions have deteriorated rapidly within the past week, after heavy rainfall was experienced late last week and over the weekend.

The farmers have been proactive at protecting ground through a variety of methods, some of which are outlined in the farmer updates featured.

Along with wet conditions, colder temperatures have also impacted negatively on grass growth.

Low grass growth has also resulted in cattle rotating around paddocks faster than planned

Paddocks that were grazed off in late May and early June have been slow to recover, even with nitrogen applied.

Low grass growth has also resulted in cattle rotating around paddocks faster than planned in order to meet grazing demand and keep animals settled.

As far as possible, priority at grass is being given to spring-calving cows in the middle of the breeding season, followed by growing cattle to try to maintain performance.

Barry Carty – Garrison, Co Fermanagh

Things have really turned the corner in the past few weeks, with ground becoming very wet. On our main outfarm, where we are grazing the store cattle, the paddock system was working extremely well and carrying 27 animals. However, ground is now being poached and as this is drained and reseeded ground, I want to minimise sward damage.

As there has been no improvement in the weather this week, I have housed 10 of the heaviest store heifers to try to limit the pressure on grazing ground

Paddocks were carrying cattle for seven to 10 days last month, but I am now moving stock every three to four days to stop ground from cutting up. As there has been no improvement in the weather this week, I have housed 10 of the heaviest store heifers to try to limit the pressure on grazing ground. I have silage bales left over from the winter, which will be fed to these animals, along with some concentrate, to maintain performance.

To free up some additional ground, I have weaned the ewes and put them to rougher grazing. This will give more grazing for some of the lighter stores. Grass growth has also tailed off significantly. Grazing ground was fertilised earlier this month, but there has been very little regrowth, even on the reseeded ground, as it has been much colder.

My plan was to originally graze the store cattle until August before selling live. If the weather was to dry up for a week, as well as warm up, I think the grazing situation would improve and I could still carry these animals for another month. With beef prices falling, I am reluctant to sell the store cattle at the moment, as the live trade has also eased. Cows are grazing on rougher ground and, again, I am trying to protect the more productive land blocks they are on.

But as the farm is extremely fragmented, moving cattle between land blocks is very time consuming, so some parts of the farm are being sacrificed at present.

Ryan McDowell, Gleno, Co Antrim

Parts of our farm have become extremely wet and, as such, we will have 22 store heifers housed by the end of this week. Grass growth has slowed in recent weeks and regrowth is not keeping up with demand. Where grass covers are low on paddocks, ground is being cut up by cattle grazing.

Grazing conditions are being monitored on a day-by-day basis and decisions will be taken on the need to rehouse cattle as necessary to protect swards from poaching.

As the stores were unsettled at grass, I think a short housing period on good silage and some concentrate will not impact on performance too severely

The plan is to hold these cattle inside for a week to 10 days to try to let grass get ahead of cattle and for ground conditions to improve.

As the stores were unsettled at grass, I think a short housing period on good silage and some concentrate will not impact on performance too severely.

Housing the stores should leave more grazing ground for the cows, as they are in the midst of the breeding season, especially as some cows are being bred to AI.

The cows are getting grazing priority, as I do not want to be upsetting them too much with the change in diet from rehousing or upsetting calves with the change in environment.

We were planning on housing 33 bullocks midweek after 16mm of rainfall on Sunday evening that left ground extremely wet.

Thankfully, conditions have improved during the week and these animals will be able to stay at grass in the short term. However, this situation could change quickly if next week is wet, which is why we are monitoring conditions daily, as early action is needed to protect ground.

Jonathan Blair, Ballykelly, Limavady

The rain delayed harvesting of first-cut silage by around three weeks. We had planned to cut silage at the end of May, but the weather broke and it was almost three weeks later before it was harvested.

As a result, silage had headed out and quality was a lot lower than I would like. Grass had really bulked out by this stage and 1,000 bales were made.

Grazing conditions are holding up OK, as the rain we are getting is generally in short, heavy bursts, which tends to run off ground quickly

As we bale all silage on farm, making so many bales was expensive, but as we do not have a clamp, there was little alternative. One field yielded 20 bales/acre.

As we finish cattle, this silage will require higher levels of supplementary concentrate feeding during winter, which is also more costly.

Grazing conditions are holding up OK, as the rain we are getting is generally in short, heavy bursts, which tends to run off ground quickly.

However, grazing ground is soft, so I am moving cattle around paddocks much quicker to try to limit any sward damage. The downside to this is cattle are not cleaning out paddocks.

Back in May, cattle grazed swards out to covers of 1,500kg DM/ha, but now residual covers are typically 1,750kg DM/ha.

Grass growth has slowed due to colder temperatures and as rainfall tends to be in heavy bursts, I have limited fertiliser applications, as I did not want it washed out.

Read more

Five tips for grazing cattle in wet conditions

Farmer Writes: heavy crops of silage keeping contractors busy