If the east and south were lagging behind their northern and western counterparts in terms of rainfall, last weekend certainly went a long way in levelling the playing fields.

Putting figures to it, rainfall levels for the last seven days have ranged between 30mm and 50mm, with the east and south receiving the higher amounts. That’s roughly 150% to 250% above normal.

Add this to the rain that has fallen over the last two months and the result is waterlogged soils.

At this stage, most farms around the country have the majority of stock housed. The housing period is a delicate time for livestock, particularly youngstock.

In terms of diet, the transition from grass to silage can be severe – especially for animals that have never seen silage before.

Young cattle can often “melt” for the first couple of weeks post-housing. If possible, bridge this transition period with a good source of roughage. Hay would be my preference but straw or indeed dry wrapped silage will do the trick.

These fibrous feeds will slow down the rate of digestion, hold the feed in the animals for longer and should prevent digestive upsets.

In the fields

At the same time, there are still plenty of cattle outdoors, either because there is still too much grass to close the farm just yet or because farmers are waiting to sell cattle to free up space in sheds. At this stage, be cautious with over-grazing. Growth is grinding to a halt – it’s now at 14kg DM/ha/day on beef farms– and so regrowth is going to be minimal.

With that in mind, we should now be aiming to close the farm at 650kg to 700kg DM/ha, meaning your highest covers should be over 1,400kg DM/ha and ready for action next spring.

Compensate