Current weather conditions can best be described as typical March weather; cold, wet, harsh and a biting north wind.

This time six years ago the beast from the East was with us and many farms were under a few feet of snow.

So in that context the current weather is fine in comparison. However, challenges exist particularly when it comes to grazing.

There is rain forecast on Monday and Tuesday of this week but drier weather forecast for later in the week and into the weekend.

Many farmers have very little land grazed so far this year because land is just too wet because of all the rain that is falling.

Short term target

On farms with less than 5% grazed the short term target is to get as much area grazed now as possible. Skip into the lighter covers and get these off and back growing again.

The more area grazed as soon as possible the better because this area will have a longer time to recover before being grazed again in early April.

Depending on growth rates, it may be necessary to slow down grazing in late March and early April but for now it’s better to get as much area grazed as possible.

For farmers that are on-target for area grazed, it’s a matter of making sure they stick to the targets and don’t go too far ahead of target while all the while making sure that they continue to walk the farm and compare average farm cover to target covers.

When it comes to grazing management, the key thing is to allocate grass on a 12-hour break, use spur roads and back fences to keep cows back from grazed areas.