Grass management: With more heavy rain forecast, farmers, particularly on heavy land, are struggling to keep stock at grass – especially heavy stock like cows. With good drying conditions between showers, it is advisable to move cows off paddocks – or house for short periods – during very heavy rainfall to avoid dirtying and poaching of swards. It is essential to allocate grass every one to two days and avoid forcing cattle to graze out swards. With grass growth increasing rapidly, it is essential that farmers get fertiliser on to grazed swards, as soon as ground conditions firm up, at a rate of 23-27 units N/acre. Where fertiliser has been skipped in the last rotation due to waterlogging, grass growth is suffering severely.

Breeding: With breeding continuing in spring-calving herds, it is essential that you pay close attention to heats. Where AI is being carried out, and cows are housed due to ground conditions, I am hearing widespread reports of poor signs of oestrus. Where it is envisaged cows may remain indoors for longer than one to two weeks on average-quality silage (65DMD), supplementing with 1kg-2kg of concentrates per day is essential. Keep energy intakes high – cheap supplements such as rolled barley will suffice. On-off suckling calves while cows are indoors during these periods will help to get cows cycling and can result in visibly stronger heats, which is a big benefit where a bull or teaser bull is not present.

Observe cows for at least 20 minutes at a time and repeat this three to four times per day for best results – 7am, 5pm and 9pm have been shown to have the highest proportion of cows showing heats. Where stock bulls are being used indoors due to the poor weather conditions, the risk of injury to both bulls and cows is increased, particularly where breeding is taking place on slats.

Ensure that the bull is mounting correctly and is free from any injuries which are impeding his effectiveness. It may be worth using a separate straw-bedded shed for serving. Move cows to the bull indoors and allow the bull to serve. This will help to reduce the risk of injury to other cows indoors. However, ensure that safety is paramount when separating cows and moving them to the bull. Also ensure the bull is in a secure pen where he cannot injure himself.

Basic Payment Scheme applications: Have you submitted your Basic Payment Scheme application (area aid) yet? Although the deadline has been extended to 29 May, don’t leave it too late. If you have not yet submitted it, then now is the time to contact your adviser and get it completed, or complete it online yourself. This year, farmers who are applying for the ANC scheme (Areas of Natural Constraints or DAS) have to tick a box, either on the paper form or online, to apply for the scheme. Failing to do so will be costly.