The 77 yearling heifers were rehoused on Thursday after two days of heavy showers, which led to a rapid deterioration of ground conditions on the demonstration farm outside Cashel, Co Tipperary.
Land had dried out well in the previous week, when the first cattle went to grass.
The heifers were grazing in three batches and, up until Tuesday, graze-outs had been quite good.
Heavy rainfall over Tuesday night saw some superficial damage done to a couple of paddocks.
The heifers were starting to tramp grass back into the ground due to the heavy rainfall.
The heifers were moved on Wednesday to avoid excessive poaching and to keep fresh grass under their heads.
However, with the weather not improving throughout Wednesday or Thursday, the decision was made to rehouse the heifers.
There is plenty of silage in the yard, so feed was not an issue.
This small batch of heifers were in a paddock just beside the yard.
They will get grass silage only for the next few days, with the hopes of getting them back to grass in the middle of next week.
Flexibility
There needs to be flexibility in the grazing plan at the moment, with a broken spell of weather making grazing conditions sticky in most situations.
Luckily, on the demo farm at John Hally’s, there is a superb network of farm roadways which makes bringing cattle in a one-man job where necessary.
Rehousing cattle need not be seen as a failure, but simply a management tool during periods of difficult weather in the shoulders of the year.
The 77 yearling heifers were rehoused on Thursday after two days of heavy showers, which led to a rapid deterioration of ground conditions on the demonstration farm outside Cashel, Co Tipperary.
Land had dried out well in the previous week, when the first cattle went to grass.
The heifers were grazing in three batches and, up until Tuesday, graze-outs had been quite good.
Heavy rainfall over Tuesday night saw some superficial damage done to a couple of paddocks.
The heifers were starting to tramp grass back into the ground due to the heavy rainfall.
The heifers were moved on Wednesday to avoid excessive poaching and to keep fresh grass under their heads.
However, with the weather not improving throughout Wednesday or Thursday, the decision was made to rehouse the heifers.
There is plenty of silage in the yard, so feed was not an issue.
This small batch of heifers were in a paddock just beside the yard.
They will get grass silage only for the next few days, with the hopes of getting them back to grass in the middle of next week.
Flexibility
There needs to be flexibility in the grazing plan at the moment, with a broken spell of weather making grazing conditions sticky in most situations.
Luckily, on the demo farm at John Hally’s, there is a superb network of farm roadways which makes bringing cattle in a one-man job where necessary.
Rehousing cattle need not be seen as a failure, but simply a management tool during periods of difficult weather in the shoulders of the year.
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