Rainfall amounts over the last week have been higher than normal everywhere. Quantities of rain have been highest in the west and the midwest, with many fields here now untrafficable.

However, the forecast for the coming days is better, with much less rain everywhere, so there’s a very good chance that cows will be able to go back out.

Drier ground

Of course, the rain over the last few days didn’t stop everyone from grazing. Those who have drier land and use on/off grazing were able to keep cows out grazing.

On/off grazing should be practised when ground conditions are testing.

It won’t prevent damage from happening, but it will seriously reduce the amount of damage done to fields.

In other words, it will reduce the amount of damage that would otherwise be considered unacceptable to more acceptable levels.

Research from Moorepark on on/off grazing found no negative effect on milk yield

The principle is that by giving cows access to grass for two three-hour periods, they will adjust their grazing behaviour to eat vigorously over this period and, as a result, do less damage.

Cows do most damage when walking around.

Research from Moorepark on on/off grazing found no negative effect on milk yield, dry matter intake or body condition score when cows were on/off grazing compared with those housed fully or grazing fully.

Key to success

The key to successful on/off grazing is to allocate the right amount of grass to the cows in each of the two grazing periods.

Failure to achieve this will result in hungry cows or a poor clean-out. Both are detrimental to milk yield over the lactation.

See this article on how to allocate grass correctly.

If cows have had access to silage before they go out to graze, they will not be hungry and will do a very poor job at cleaning out the paddock.

If you want to feed silage during the off period, then make sure that the silage is gone at least five or six hours before the on period.

However, if the right grass area is allocated, then cows don’t need any silage in the shed.

Water

Giving cows access to water when on/off grazing isn’t necessary, provided that they have access to water when in the shed.

When cows are out grazing full-time, they will need access to water for at least one of the grazings, ideally for the night grazing.

If they don’t have access to water for one of the grazings, make sure there is a big trough that they can drink from on the way into and out of the parlour.

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Lots of grass so dry cows out in Kilkenny