Weather: It’s back to strip wires, 12-hour breaks and on-off grazing for many dairy farmers in the west and north. Rainfall for the past seven days in these parts has been over 80mm, which is three to four times the normal. More rain is forecast for the coming days. Conditions have changed from perfect to sloppy in a very short space of time. Cows tend to be unsettled in wet weather and during high growth rates so keep them content with a few kilos of meal or high-quality grass silage if available.

Rain is still welcome in drier parts as soil moisture deficits were still well above normal up to now. Managing grass is very difficult in this weather. Growth rates are variable and are hard to predict as temperatures are changing fast. Many farmers have surplus paddocks to cut for silage. It’s hard to get a window but if keeping these paddocks out of the rotation is making the rest of the farm tight for grass, it’s better to be brave and cut them if there is any chance at all. Cutting for silage, topping or pre-mowing will depress growth rates as the cut fields will be slow to recover so keep this in mind if you plan to cut a high proportion of the farm. It’s much better to cut stemmy paddocks out for silage than to top or pre-mow them.

Breeding: There are two to three weeks of breeding left on most farms. If relying on stock bulls for picking up cows in heat, make sure they’re working well. Lameness, pain or injuries will affect performance.

Keep an eye on the number of repeats coming back and if it is high (more than 40% repeating) then something isn’t right, either with the cows or the bull. A good few farmers are reporting cases of embryonic death. The rule of thumb is that around 5% of all conceptions don’t survive to full term, hence there is a discrepancy between non-return rate and actual conception rate. In some cases it is being misdiagnosed, particularly where a cow shows signs of heat six weeks after last service. This is most likely to be due to a missed or a silent heat three weeks after service. This is different to embryo mortality. There are various reasons why a cow will conceive and then lose the pregnancy such as in-breeding, nutrition, stress etc. and in most cases there’s not a lot that can be done to avoid it.

Discussion groups: It’s important that discussion groups meet up in person and get back on to farm as soon as they can. It’s a good idea to compare cumulative performance up to 1 July in terms of milk solids sold, meal fed, grass grown and six-week calving rate along with comparing actual cashflow to what was budgeted at the start of the year. I know some groups are having their first meeting in the evening time and dedicating half the time to on-farm issues and the rest to just catching up with each other with some food and a chat. Social distancing should be practised throughout and meetings should be held outdoors as much as possible or in open, airy sheds if it’s raining. It’s as important as ever to limit your close contacts.

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