Last weekend brought all sorts of weather – freezing rain, snow, heavy rain, biting cold, hailstones and gale force winds.

Those who persevered with grazing did so on the basis of grab and go – a few hours here and a few hours there.

The amount of rain that fell across most places probably wasn’t that high, but, as the saying goes, when it snows, it rains twice – the second time being when the snow melts.

The exception to that is the southwest, where heaps of rain fell on Friday and Saturday.

The forecast for the week ahead is mixed. The return to milder conditions was already being felt on Sunday and this is set to continue for the rest of the week.

However, it won’t be a week without rain and, on reflection, weeks in February rarely are.

Manage conditions

At this stage, it’s about managing the conditions.

If land is too wet to graze, then keep cows in. Feed the highest-quality silage available and keep looking for opportunities to get cows back out.

Remember the why; the aim of getting grass into cows is that it is an exceptionally good feed at very low cost.

Remember the how; allocate grass in square blocks in dry parts of the farm.

Use a back fence, use on-off grazing and allocate low covers of between 800kg DM/ha and 1,200kg DM/ha.

It’s time enough grazing the higher covers in early March.

Don’t let cows out to grass with full bellies of silage. Restrict silage for a few hours before letting them out to grass.

Finally, take solace from the fact that these are tough conditions and that these conditions won’t last – better weather is on the way.