Ground conditions are slowly improving, which is starting to put the thought of grazing in some farmers' heads.

But whether grazing normally starts in March or April on your farm, when it comes to turning cattle out to grass, there a few steps that should be followed.

These steps will help to prevent swards from poaching and keep sufficient grazing in front of cattle.

Walking the farm weekly

With spring under way and the length of the days increasing, ground conditions can change quickly. Walking the farm weekly gives you a better handle on how ground is drying out and if grass covers are building.

This gives a solid foundation for deciding if and when animals can start filtering out to grass in March and April.

Prioritise cattle for turnout

An early turnout is not about letting every animal out to grass on the same day. This will put ground and swards under pressure, most likely causing animals to be rehoused.

Lighter cattle should get priority for turnout, as they have a lower grazing demand and will inflict less ground damage.

Start with maiden heifers that will be kept as herd replacements. Early grazing will increase weight gain and help get animals to their target breeding weight.

Other animals to prioritise are autumn weanlings through on-off grazing, with their dam remaining housed.

For spring-calving herds, consider turning first-calved heifers out ahead of cows, as fresh grass will increase energy intakes.

Cutting meal levels

In the perfect world, cutting meal from cattle diets around one month before turnout is recommended.

But nobody knows what weather, grass growth and ground conditions will be like in one month’s time.

Therefore, as a safeguard, reduce meal levels by 50% around two weeks before you hope to get stock out. If turnout is delayed, continue feeding meal.

This way, there is no major loss in weight gain with a late turnout and animals will be easier to transition on to a grass-only diet.

Vaccines and herd health

Before cattle go back to grass, make sure all vaccines are up to date where the timing is applicable. This avoids having to gather animals again next month or later in spring.

Turning animals out in batches makes it more practical from a time perspective, with routine vaccines that cover against problems such as clostridial diseases.

Check routine management tasks are up to date

Where autumn calves or yearling stores are going back to grass, tidy up any horns that are still present or growing back because of poor dehorning technique.

With early spring-born calves, again, check for horn buds and remove as necessary before turnout.

On farms running a steer system, check that no animals were missed when castrating before going out to grass and remedy if required.

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