Grass: I had a good discussion with one farmer this week, querying whether management practices should change because of the exceptional growth we’ve had. My argument is stick to the plan – the one thing that might change is the first paddock you have closed off may have too heavy a cover (>1,300kgDM/ha) to carry over the winter and should be grazed again. However, if this happens, growth has been exceptional and the rest of the paddocks you have closed off will have a higher cover of grass – so closing average farm cover should still be around 550kgDM/ha, ensuring a good supply of grass next spring. Aim to get 60% of your farm grazed by 1 November as per usual.

Really what needs to change is management – grazing heavier covers is a skill and will be made very difficult this week with the heavy rain. Many farmers normally start feeding silage this time of year, but there is little point if you have lots of grass. While autumn grass is lower in energy (it is still a good source of protein) than grass grown earlier in the year, it is still a better feed than silage. For many, an extended grazing season could mean shelving fears of winter feed shortages, so budget and allocate autumn grass carefully.

Dry off: Many farmers will be considering drying off early calving first lactation animals and cows behind target body condition score in the next week or two, to give them twelve weeks dry pre calving. As important as the length of the dry period is, the quality of silage they will be on during this time is just as critical. It’s crucial to get your silage tested if you haven’t already done so. There is a big difference between the body condition cows will gain if feeding 68DMD silage for 12 weeks versus 75DMD silage. For those drying off early due to the superlevy, the challenge could be to make sure cows don’t gain too much condition. Also, for those short in silage, if what you have is higher quality then you have more options to stretch it.

Hoose: While most will hope young stock won’t have to be housed for another few weeks, make sure you get the dosing regime right before housing. Stock with a heavy lung worm infection dosed at housing will be under a lot of stress, so dose regularly to reduce the worm burden.

Cash flow: Most milk processors are still reporting continued strong milk supplies, which will send the country further over quota. Next spring will present a severe cash flow challenge for farmers over quota – for these farmers it’s a good idea to sit down, look at your calving pattern next spring and calculate the amount of milk you will sell and what you will be paid for.

I spoke to one farmer with 70 cows this week who has a tight calving pattern and will have no quota left to fill in spring. He reckons his total milk sales will be around €7,000 for February and March, which will be about half the milk cheque he will get for this October.

Once aware, you can plan out cash flow. This farmer had surplus stock to sell to help him through the spring.