Monday Management: Change in weather but challenges remain

This is some change from the previous two months of low temperatures resulting in the fodder crisis.

The fly in the ointment was rainfall. Most of the country got between 30 and 70mm of rain over the past week. This has fallen on top of already wet soils and has made grazing conditions very difficult.

Farmers on heavy land will be unable to graze for a while after that amount of rain. This will prolong the fodder crisis on these farms.

But farmers on drier land need to act now. Depending on how much fertiliser was spread, growth rates in the mid-fifties are likely on some farms. This means that magic day has come and gone. Therefore, some supplement should be removed from the diet. Start with silage as this is the lowest quality feed and then reduce concentrate use when growth rates and farm cover allows.

But not all farms can afford to do this now. It depends on the ability to get cows out grazing and it also depends on average farm cover and growth rates. Farms should be walked every five days or three times a fortnight to assess growth rates.

There shouldn’t be a nutritional problem with dropping grass silage and feeding more grazed grass. However, there may be an issue with reducing meal feeding rates too sharply. It is better to build up meal slowly and reduce it slowly, over a week or 10 days.

At this stage, the important figures will be average farm cover per cow, demand and growth rate. AFC per cow should be between 140 and 180kg. If growth rate is higher than demand, then you can afford to let AFC be a bit lower. Set demand to be the same as growth by reducing supplement.

Grazing conditions will be tough for another week or so. At this stage all farmers are fed up of on/off grazing and milking cows from cubicle sheds. But the end is in sight. Grass is an excellent feed and a little goes a long way. Use on/off grazing, back fences and grazing in square blocks to minimise damage.