Apart from some scattered showers, the forecast for the coming seven days is for mostly fine and settled weather.

This will make a big change from the last weekend, which saw over 30mm of rain fall in most places as Storm Betty hammered the country - as a result of which all field work was paused.

Tasks to be prioritised on dairy farms if ground improves include cutting second cut and surplus paddocks for silage, reseeding any ground that has already been burned off and catching up with fertiliser.

The latter task will need to be carefully considered, as there are only three more weeks left in the permissible period for spreading chemical fertiliser.

Multiple factors

Should you spread fertiliser now or should you wait until closer to the end date?

The answer to this question probably depends on multiple factors, including when the last time fertiliser was spread, how much grass is on the farm, current growth rate and demand for grass.

On farms that have not spread nitrogen for three or four weeks, some pastures are looking washed out and will need their fix of chemical nitrogen sooner rather than later, particularly where grass demand is high.

In these cases, I would advise spreading 15 or 20 units/acre of nitrogen now and the same again in two weeks’ time.

Good growth rates

Growth rates have been good so I suspect that a lot of nitrogen has been used up in the last few weeks.

Farms that are in better shape and that have a lower demand for grass might get away with waiting until next week to spread their final application of chemical fertiliser.

Farmers should remember that soiled water, such as that from collecting yards, is a good source of nitrogen and should be utilised in conjunction with chemical nitrogen where possible.

High-clover paddocks can be given half-rate or else skipped over for chemical nitrogen.