With settled weather forecast over the coming week, there will be an opportunity for some farmers to start, or resume, grazing cattle. Outlined are some tips aimed at getting the grazing season off to a positive start.

Target lighter cattle for early turnout

Ground conditions will be marginal on many farms, even with drier weather in the week ahead.

Therefore, if there are plans to turn some stock out to grass, start with lighter cattle as they will inflict less sward damage.

Lighter cattle will also have a lower grazing demand, so grass supplies will stretch further than if using heavier cattle.

Target heifers that will go to the bull in May or June. Early grazing will allow them to settle at grass before the breeding period starts.

Grazing will also give these animals a performance boost, helping them meet target breeding weights.

Keep group size small

Start with smaller groups of cattle at grass. That way there is less chance of poaching and grazing demand is lower.

Also, if the rain does return and animals have to be housed, there are fewer animals to bring back inside.

Once smaller groups have settled at grass and you are confident that ground conditions are improving, as well as having adequate grass for grazing, you can start to increase group size by turning more cattle out or amalgamating groups of similar stock together.

Avoid over-grazing

If ground conditions are tricky, avoid holding cattle in paddocks for longer than 48- to 72-hour periods, as this increases the risks of sward damage.

Keep cattle moving on to the next paddock in a planned rotation.

There is no risk of grass heading out at this time of year, so any grass that was not grazed can be cleaned off in the next rotation.

Make use of electric fencing

Using temporary electric fences can help to control the grazing area, preventing cattle from spoiling swards and improving utilisation.

Mains electric works best, but battery fencers with a higher voltage battery and heavier wire gauge can work well to control animals.

If using an electric wire to strip graze, make sure to give cattle a big enough grazing allocation every day.

Also, try to move the wire at the same time each day, so that animals do not run out of grass.

Fertiliser

Fertiliser and slurry should be applied after swards have been grazed, as grass will be actively growing in these paddocks.

There is still value in spreading urea if there is adequate soil moisture and, at current prices, one unit of urea is a cheaper source of nitrogen than other grassland fertiliser products.

Applying 30 to 40 units/acre of nitrogen will suffice for grazing swards in late March to early April.

Avoid spreading fertilisers with a high potassium content where freshly calved cows will be grazing, as this increases the risk of tetany.

The same applies for swards that have received slurry.

Cows should be well covered for magnesium supplementation, as lush grass and changeable weather also increases the risk of tetany.

If using lick buckets, allow one bucket per 10 cows.

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