3 March 2020
Written by Rhys Davies, Farming Connect Dairy Technical Officer.
Despite having good infrastructure to allow for early grazing, the recent wet, unsettled weather has made early turnout decisions difficult at Erw Fawr. Low yielders have been turned out for a few hours during dry, sunny and settled days in the middle of February, however, a prolonged period of grazing has not been possible.
A grass walk was completed on 18 February to measure the opening farm cover along with the completion of a spring rotation planner, with 1 March being the planned turnout day. This will ensure a near full grazing platform is completed before the balance date, where grass growth meets cow demand. If the wet weather continues, grazing will have to be managed carefully such as on/off grazing, managing the cows’ appetite and grazing drier paddocks first. Without adequate tracks these methods of managing grazing during wet conditions would not be possible.
The graph and table below show how much of the grazing platform in hectares (ha) should be grazed each day and the percentage to be grazed by the end of each week. By following this plan, commencement of the second round of grazing should begin on 13 April, with the rotation length reduced from 100-day to 18-day.
Top tips on grazing during wet weather:
- Walk drier paddocks frequently to assess ground conditions
- Use multiple access points
- Back-fence grazed areas
- Ensure cows have an edge to their appetite before turnout
- Graze for short intense bursts before bringing cattle in
- Consider turning less stock out e.g. only half the herd
- Don’t take any notice or be swayed by social media posts and pictures of cows out grazing