Last week’s fine weather and good drying proved somewhat of a false dawn in terms of spring grazing and this week it has remained a case of “smash and grab”.

Another drenching with rain on Monday put wet ground back to square one and hampered grazing on drier farms. Dairy cows were getting out at least once a day in many parts and can continue to do so, but with clever management.

Make use of spur walkways if necessary and try to let cows out with an appetite to maximise grazing and minimise walking.

On drystock farms, cows and newborn calves or light store cattle in small batches will get by but that’s about the height of it. Allocate small blocks of grass, no more than what they will require for two days, and then move on.

Urea

There was a lot of urea spread last week. Provided you got 48 hours of relatively dry conditions after spreading, most of the fertiliser will have been absorbed into the soil and should not have gone into solution so the risk of loss is low.

Looking ahead, the rest of this week and the weekend is forecast to be showery and cold.

There is talk of more settled weather and rising temperatures next week, but that remains to be seen. Everyone will be hoping that is the case though, as growth rates really haven’t budged for the last month, largely down to cold temperatures.

Soil temperature

The current average is 14kg DM/ha/day but, with soil temperatures still marginally ahead of normal, the likelihood is a rise in temperatures will correspond to a good lift in grass growth.