With parts of the country receiving over heavy rainfall over the past month, it has started to cause problems for grazing on many farms.

More unsettled weather is forecast for the weekend, so action may be needed to avoid excessive damage.

Taking temporary action now could prolong the grazing season if there is a dry September-October. If fields are badly damaged now, it will be difficult for them to heal again before housing.

Should I house stock?

The answer to this question probably depends on the type of stock they are. If it’s light weanling heifers or steers and they aren’t doing much damage to ground, I’d leave them outdoors. You don’t need to graze down tight when weather conditions are poor and you are better to move on a little faster to minimise any poaching and damage to paddocks.

If you can, move to drier fields during the wet weather and move back to low-lying fields when the weather improves. If cattle remain outdoors, using a back fence can help to reduce poaching.

Try to keep grazing divisions as square as possible to minimise damage. Cows with weanlings are different and if you see calves getting very cold and underfoot conditions are very wet, the right option may be to house. Having a well-ventilated creep area with plenty of straw is a must. Young calves would be better outdoors if the only option indoors was slats.

Housing

If you do take the decision to house, try to house stock dry. Housing wet cattle is a recipe for problems. Cattle can become very sweaty once housed and steam rising from cattle can lead to ideal conditions for disease to spread.

Make sure young calves have access to a clean, dry creep area with plenty of straw. If cows are housed and are being fed average-quality silage, meal will need to be fed to maintain milk supply and body condition. Feeding 2kg to 3kg/day of a simple ration with 14% protein will be fine when it’s for a short period.

Poaching.

Offering creep to stronger calves will also help to take the pressure off the cows sucking these calves. If vaccinating for pneumonia, make sure you have at least the first shot given before housing cows and calves.

Moving indoors, even for a short period, is stressful on calves and could bring on illness and pneumonia. Do as little as you can with stock once they are housed to allow them settle. Reducing stock numbers could also take off some pressure. Cows bred 30 to 35 days can be scanned and any empty cows offloaded when the trade is good.

Supplementary feed

Feeding hay or silage on a roadway can help to keep cattle settled and prevent excessive walking which can cause damage to paddocks.

Round bales of silage can be fed a few days after making them. Hay is also a good option. Feeding meal with magnesium will also help prevent tetany. It’s a tough call to make, if you start to feed, you will probably have to continue for a few days and if cows get used to being fed, they may become restless if no meal is fed. Try to move around troughs as much as much as possible or better still, feed on a roadway or hard-core area.

Tetany risk

Suckler cows have a poor capability to store magnesium in their bodies and must take in sufficient magnesium on a daily basis to prevent deficiency.

It is common with suckler cows when they are grazing very bare, as well as lush pastures.

This grass is frequently low in magnesium due to quick growth and heavy slurry spreading, which is high in potassium and can have a negative effect on magnesium uptake.

Managing cattle at grass in wet weather

Dos

  • Have a flexible attitude.
  • Strip grazing can help.
  • Use a backfence to minimise damage.
  • Practise on-off grazing.
  • Have multiple access points into the field.
  • Place water troughs so that they service several fields.
  • Try to stick to the driest fields on your farm.
  • Creep graze weanlings.
  • Don’ts

  • Don’t let animals poach paddocks excessively.
  • Don’t give cattle a full field of grass (it will be soiled and trampled on).
  • Don’t graze paddocks with high covers as they will be grossly under utilised.
  • Don’t let animals walk long distances to water troughs.
  • Creep feeders can cause a lot of poaching. Avoid if possible.
  • BEEP-S and weaning

    With some farmers thinking about weaning earlier than normal due to the conditions, for participants in the BEEP-S scheme, it’s vital to remember the scheme conditions. Weanlings must be fed for four weeks prior to weaning and two weeks after weaning. That means if you planned to start weaning around 11 September, you need to start feeding meal this week.

    That would mean you could sell weanlings from 25 September onwards. With a lot of weanling sales taking place in October, meal feeding needs to start as soon as possible on many farms. Dockets for meal purchase must be kept for inspection purposes. Animal feed must be purchased from a Department of Agriculture-approved feed supplier. You must weigh cows and calves before weaning and load weights on to the ICBF database to ensure compliance with the scheme. Vaccination programmes should be completed before weaning commences.