This week saw a change in weather conditions. The wet and windy conditions have made grazing more challenging.

Badly damaged ground in the autumn will hold a lot of surface water during the winter and will be tender and more subject to damage in the spring. So this needs to be avoided.

When grazing in wet weather you should only let stock over an area for one grazing, minimising the amount of traffic that walks over that particular area.

It’s important to note that stock won’t graze in heavy rain and will walk around the field looking for shelter causing more damage.

Avoid turning stock out while it’s raining and bring them in early or take them off the land when it starts. Stock should never walk back over grazed ground – use spur roadways to access the back of paddocks.

On/off grazing may also have to come into play letting cows out for two and half or three hours after each milking and then bringing them back in to the shed. Be flexible.

Assess grass covers and see how much ground you have left to graze. If you are behind your target, introduce extra supplement to stretch out days at grass or house stock earlier than planned to ensure you have plenty of grass available for the spring.

The average growth for November over the last five years has been close to 10kg/day.

So over the month you could build an extra 300kg DM/ha if stock are housed at the end of October. Take this into account when budgeting if you will hit your target closing cover on 1 December.