As the grazing season draws to a close, the heavy rainfall experienced across the country last week has made grazing conditions extremely difficult to manage.

This week, we outline how some of the programme farmers are coping with difficult ground conditions and housing cattle for winter.

Ryan McDowell - Gleno, Co Antrim

All 52 cows and calves were still at grass at the start of the week. Cows are split into four groups to ease the pressure on ground. While grass utilisation is poor due to wet conditions, cows are content.

However, the plan is to start housing the cows midweek as the final rotation comes to an end. Calves will be weaned once they are settled inside.

Silage ground provided extra grazing this autumn. We installed extra drinkers and used back-fences to protect grazed ground.

Bullocks were housed from 6 to 9 October with 31 animals coming indoors after 190 days of grazing

We have 34 in-calf heifers currently on farm and 14 went into the shed on Saturday 10 October.

The other 20 heifers are still at grass. All being well, there should be enough grass to carry them until the end of the month.

Bullocks were housed from 6 to 9 October with 31 animals coming indoors after 190 days of grazing.

They are on 3kg/day of meal and first cut baled silage with 36.9% dry matter, 75.2% D-Value, ME 12.04 and 16.7% crude protein.

Barry Carty - Garrison, Co Fermanagh

My autumn cows are all inside since the start of October as ground started to get wet again. These cows were housed for a short period in early September, but did get back out to grass by the middle of the month. Cows will now remain housed for the winter. There are 40 autumn cows housed, 39 of which have calved, with one animal still to go.

Breeding is now under way with 11 animals served to AI in the past week and 50 cows in total to breed this winter. Demand for silage has really increased with calving at an end.

The spring-calving cows are still at grass and grazing in small groups on rougher hill areas

Cows are on baled silage and concentrates to drive milk yield and bring animals back in heat for breeding.

First-cut silage is being fed to autumn cows. It analysed at 73.8% D-Value, 41.5% dry matter, 15.4% crude protein and 11.8 ME.

The spring-calving cows are still at grass and grazing in small groups on rougher hill areas. They are being supplemented with concentrate which has higher mineral levels. Hopefully, these cows can stay outside for another fortnight to take the pressure off housing, slurry storage and silage demand.

Oliver McKenna - Eskra, Co Tyrone

All cattle, with the exception of 11 heifers, have been housed in recent weeks. The autumn cows are normally housed by the start of October every year, regardless of weather.

This gets them settled before breeding starts in mid-October. All cows are bred to AI, so early housing and feeding a settled diet prior to breeding is much more practical.

First-cut silage is being offered to autumn cows plus concentrates. It analysed at 73.4% D-Value, 28.2% dry matter, 13.4% crude protein and 11.8 ME.

Spring-calving cows have had to be housed also, although I would have preferred that these animals were still grazing. However, they were starting to cause too much damage to swards.

There is a bit of silage aftermath from third-cut

While ground is wet, there is plenty of grass that has to be grazed off yet. My plan would be to leave the 11 heifers outside to clean out paddocks. Covers should last this group into early November.

There is no point putting spring cows back outside, after weaning, just to clean off paddocks at this stage of the year.

Slurry tanks have been emptied in good time. There is a bit of silage aftermath from third-cut. I’ll try and get any slurry collected in the past week applied to this ground if conditions allow.

Virtual farm walk on herd health and winter finishing

Programme farmer Jonathan Blair will host a virtual farm walk on Thursday 22 October, starting at 8pm.

Jonathan runs a spring-calving herd of approximately 90 cows. Breed type has been moving towards Stabiliser genetics, along with Aberdeen Angus.

Male progeny are taken through to slaughter with Stabiliser animals finished as young bulls, while Angus bred animals are finished as steers.

Discussion will focus in on winter feeding, fodder quality and the role of high-quality silage in intensive bull beef diets.

The evening will feature a series of pre-recorded videos showcasing cow type, grazing management, replacement heifers and cattle on farm which are destined for winter finishing.

Video footage will also feature pregnancy scanning of cows and replacement heifers, with Jonathan being joined on the evening by his farm vet, Craig Campbell to discuss herd health planning on farm.

The event is open to all. Register your interest at www.ifj.ie/beefevent.

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