Torrential rain on Saturday and Sunday has made grazing very difficult on many farms across the country. Over 38mm of rain was recorded at Cork airport on Saturday while farmers in the midlands and northern half of the country woke up on Sunday morning to find rain gauges overflowing with over 45mm of rain recorded.

Dairylink Farmer Kevin McGrade in Co Tyrone has had to house his cows by night as ground conditions are too wet. With more rain forecast for tomorrow he plans to keep the cows in all day to avoid poaching.

On the plus side, air temperatures have increased and it is noticeably milder so grass growth looks set to increase. The Greenfield farm in Co Kilkenny completed its grass walk this morning and got a growth rate of 50kg per day for the past seven days, which is just below demand at 60kg/day but average farm cover is 172kg/cow so they are in a good position.

Farm manager Tom Lyng cut 40 acres of surplus grass for bales last week. This yielded only three bales per acre, but cutting it last week lowered his demand as this ground is now back in the rotation and can be grazed in less than three weeks.

The cold harsh weather leading up to last weekend took its toll on grass growth with many of the Grass+ farmers recording growth rates in the mid 40s. With the mild weather now here, the likelihood is that growth will increase dramatically over the next few weeks.

This see-saw action of a growth spurt followed by a lag in growth seems to be a feature of 2015 so far. Be prepared to manage this growth when it does come by being proactive in skipping over paddocks and by following the grass wedge.

For the moment though, the key message is to avoid damaging grass and soil. With more widespread heavy rain forecast for Monday night and Tuesday, take precautions to avoid poaching. Grazing dry fields and using a strip wire to allocate a 12 hour grazing block are simple steps that can be taken to avoid the worst of the damage. In extreme cases, cows may need to be housed as any more rain on already wet ground will lead to severe poaching.