Heavy rain at the weekend and into Monday across much of the country has meant housing had to take place on a lot of farms especially on difficult land types in the west.
This is earlier than expected on a lot of farms and with very good grass growth over the past couple of weeks it now presents a challenge on how this grass can be grazed.
Problems
Not getting to graze this grass presents a number of problems. One is that you will probably lose this grass over winter through frost or snow.
Secondly when these heavy covers are grazed in spring, they could have very slow re-growths because of dead material at the butt.
On drier farms where you are running behind your closing target because of heavy covers, switch over to grazing some lighter covers for the next few days.
The target should be to have 60% of the farm closed by 1 November. With drier conditions forecast, housing cattle for a few days may alleviate the issues.
Try to avoid housing wet cattle as it can lead to health issues with sweating in poorly ventilated sheds.
Silage analysis
Getting silage analysed is a must on every farm. It’s the most valuable source of feed on the farm and yet many farmers won’t be able to tell you what the feed value of their silage is.
This could have a major impact on performance including weanling weight gain and fertility in suckler cows. Most feed merchants will carry out this service for you. It’s also good practice to carry out a feed budget if not already completed.
While there seems to be ample fodder on farms, housing a month early will put more pressure on feed stocks and some planning could help avoid any issues next spring.
Avoid poaching and move to drier paddocks during wet weather.Avoid housing cattle on wet days.House the heaviest animals first and leave weanlings out as long as possible.Carry out a fodder budget.Get your silage analysed as soon as possible. Read more
Grass+: management now key to spring grass
Heavy rain at the weekend and into Monday across much of the country has meant housing had to take place on a lot of farms especially on difficult land types in the west.
This is earlier than expected on a lot of farms and with very good grass growth over the past couple of weeks it now presents a challenge on how this grass can be grazed.
Problems
Not getting to graze this grass presents a number of problems. One is that you will probably lose this grass over winter through frost or snow.
Secondly when these heavy covers are grazed in spring, they could have very slow re-growths because of dead material at the butt.
On drier farms where you are running behind your closing target because of heavy covers, switch over to grazing some lighter covers for the next few days.
The target should be to have 60% of the farm closed by 1 November. With drier conditions forecast, housing cattle for a few days may alleviate the issues.
Try to avoid housing wet cattle as it can lead to health issues with sweating in poorly ventilated sheds.
Silage analysis
Getting silage analysed is a must on every farm. It’s the most valuable source of feed on the farm and yet many farmers won’t be able to tell you what the feed value of their silage is.
This could have a major impact on performance including weanling weight gain and fertility in suckler cows. Most feed merchants will carry out this service for you. It’s also good practice to carry out a feed budget if not already completed.
While there seems to be ample fodder on farms, housing a month early will put more pressure on feed stocks and some planning could help avoid any issues next spring.
Avoid poaching and move to drier paddocks during wet weather.Avoid housing cattle on wet days.House the heaviest animals first and leave weanlings out as long as possible.Carry out a fodder budget.Get your silage analysed as soon as possible. Read more
Grass+: management now key to spring grass
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