Apart from widespread rain in the middle of the week, the forecast for the coming seven days is for mostly fine and settled weather.

This will make a big change from the last three weeks which saw practically no field work completed due to very heavy rainfall, wind and storms.

Tasks to be prioritised on dairy farms now include cutting surplus paddocks for silage, reseeding any ground that has already been burned off, post emergence spraying of reseeds and catching up with fertiliser.

The latter task will need to be carefully considered as there are only two more weeks left in the permissible period for spreading chemical fertiliser.

Should you spread fertiliser now or should you wait until closer to the end date? The answer to this question probably depends on multiple factors, including when the last time fertiliser was spread, how much grass is on the farm, current growth rate and demand for grass.

Nitrogen

On farms that have not spread nitrogen for three or four weeks, some pastures are looking washed out and will need their fix of chemical nitrogen sooner rather than later, particularly where grass demand is high.

In these cases I would advise spreading 15 or 20 units/acre of nitrogen now and the same again in two weeks’ time.

Farms that are in better shape and that have a lower demand for grass might get away with waiting until next week to spread their final application of chemical fertiliser.

Farmers should remember that soiled water, such as that from collecting yards is a good source of nitrogen and should be utilised in conjunction with chemical nitrogen where possible.

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