Total rainfall amounts over the most of the country exceeded 60mm this week, which by any metric is a lot of rain.

That’s more than many soil types can cope with, especially heavy soils and, as a result, many farmers made the decision to house cows for periods this week.

The differences between soil types is huge. I was on farms in Tipperary and Laois this week where cows were out grazing day and night in the rain with zero damage being done and excellent grazing residuals being achieved.

So how much of an impact the rain will have is all dependent on what type of soil the farm is on and also the condition of that soil. Compacted soils, even if theoretically free-draining, will not be in good shape after all the rain.

Grass cover

Avoiding damage is one thing, but ensuring that the cows don’t eat too much grass this autumn is another matter and because average farm cover is lower than target on some farms, this is a risk.

A grass walk should be completed every week and checked off against the budget. For most farmers, a closing cover of 700kg to 900kg/ha is the target.

Where there is a lot of clover present, the closing covers on these fields should be less than 600kg to 700kg/ha, as there is a risk of higher covers shading out the clover.