Between 30mm and 50mm of rain fell across Ireland over the last seven days.

Land that was borderline for grazing is now totally saturated and avoiding poaching on some of this land is next to impossible. Even dry land turned sticky on Saturday as it rained nearly all day with no opportunities for drying. The difference, however, is that drier land will dry out quickly.

What can we do?

Those on really heavy land in the north, border counties and along the western seaboard are under most pressure. Grass is generally plentiful but on many farms each step an animal makes is leaving a mark. Housing is inevitable on many of these farms.

Elsewhere, there are steps that can be taken to minimise poaching and keep grass into the cow’s grass. This should be everyone’s goal.

On/off grazing (grazing for two- to three-hour periods every 24 hours) works well.

Only turn out the cows when it is not raining and only give them as much as they would eat in a 12-hour period.

Allocating grass

Use strip wires to allocate grass. This is really essential. Temporary fences can be used to get cows almost anywhere. Make narrow laneways and get cows to walk in single file to the backs of the paddocks. Make sure to back-fence previously grazed areas.

Feeding silage in wet weather is a disaster

Obviously, only the driest parts of the farm should be grazed in this weather so you may need to skip out of the current grazing order to move to a drier field with a lighter cover to minimise damage.

Feeding silage in wet weather

Many farmers are now feeding silage to lengthen the grazing round. Feeding silage in wet weather is a disaster because the cows lose interest in grazing and will hang around gaps waiting to come in. If at all possible, hold off on feeding silage until the weather settles, or else house a proportion of the herd full-time to reduce demand.

Even when all the recommended management practices are adopted for wet weather, some damage will be done. This is inevitable and even the best farmers make mistakes with grazing and do excess damage. The trick is to learn from your mistakes and tweak things to limit damage in the future.

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Drier and warmer weather forecast for midweek