The knock-on effect for most farmers was a faster rotation length last week and poor cleanouts. The last few days have been better and the forecast is reasonable so most farms should be getting back to normal. Poorly grazed paddocks over the past week will need some form of mechanical cutting to get the residuals back to where they should be. The best approach is to skip over the worst paddocks for silage at the next grazing, but this will depend on growth rates at the time. Pre-mowing and topping are other options, but they are not as attractive. Pre-mowing high covers or stemmy grass is a poor move as it removes the cow’s ability to select the leafy grass and leave the stem. Best policy is to graze as good as you can and bale up paddocks that are poor quality or too strong.
The knock-on effect for most farmers was a faster rotation length last week and poor cleanouts. The last few days have been better and the forecast is reasonable so most farms should be getting back to normal. Poorly grazed paddocks over the past week will need some form of mechanical cutting to get the residuals back to where they should be.
The best approach is to skip over the worst paddocks for silage at the next grazing, but this will depend on growth rates at the time. Pre-mowing and topping are other options, but they are not as attractive. Pre-mowing high covers or stemmy grass is a poor move as it removes the cow’s ability to select the leafy grass and leave the stem. Best policy is to graze as good as you can and bale up paddocks that are poor quality or too strong.
Hope for those battling high cell counts
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