Farmer focus: Barry Carty, Garrison, Co Fermanagh
Our farm would be naturally heavy and when ground gets wet, grazing cattle can cause a lot of damage in a short period of time.
I housed 10 autumn-calving cows and calves last Thursday.
They have since returned to grass as I managed to free up more ground.
To ease the pressure on ground, I weaned 20 spring-born calves last week. The calves averaged 310kg at weaning.
As grass growth is running below livestock demand, the plan is to house the weaned calves this weekend.
The dry cows were moved to the mountain, freeing up paddocks with better grazing for autumn-calving cows
Once indoors, they will be fed 1.5kg/head of concentrate on a daily basis, along with high-quality, first-cut silage, which analysed at 74 D-value.
The dry cows were moved to the mountain, freeing up paddocks with better grazing for autumn-calving cows.
There are 22 autumn-born stores grazing at present and 10 will be sold next week. This will free up more ground for autumn-calving cows.
Autumn calving is well under way, with 20 cows calved since the beginning of August and back at grass. The remaining 20 cows should hopefully calve this month.
Farmer focus: Oliver McKenna, Eskra, Co Tyrone
The rain over the past week has made the farm wet and ground is getting tricky to manage.
I have already housed the autumn-born bulls and autumn cows which are on the point of calving.
The bulls were housed back in mid-August for intensive finishing.
They were getting unsettled at grass, but it was also time to bring them in for finishing regardless of weather.
The autumn cows were housed as they were easier managed ahead of calving.
There are 14 autumn cows and calves back at grass, with the remainder still housed.
To keep grazing cattle settled, I am moving animals around paddocks on 24/48-hour grass allocations
Calving pens are now full, but I do not want to put freshly calved cows out in wet weather.
Therefore, these cows will remain housed until the weather settles.
To keep grazing cattle settled, I am moving animals around paddocks on 24/48-hour grass allocations.
Cattle are not cleaning swards out properly and there is some poaching of ground, but nothing too severe at the moment.
The spring cows have been split into smaller groups, based on bull or heifer calves and this has eased the pressure on ground.
Silage ground is also wet and I have been unable to get slurry out after the second cut.
Tanks are relatively full and I need to get them emptied before the autumn cows are housed for breeding at the end of the month.
Farmer focus: Ryan McDowell, Gleno, Co Antrim
After a brief re-housing period back in June, our farm became very wet again in mid to late August, and we housed cows on 21 August.
Conditions did improve soon after and cows were turned back out to grass on 28 August.
However, we had 26mm of rain on Saturday and if we had known so much rain would materialise, the cows would have stayed indoors.
Cows were moved onto an outdoor tank, which meant there were fewer health risks with young calves as they were still out in fresh air.
Ground has become very sticky and cattle are poaching swards once the bulk of the grass cover has been grazed off.
We also have 30 store bullocks at grass and they are grazing their way back towards the yard
Therefore, we are trying to move animals to fresh grass every day. This seems to be working and animals are happy to move.
However, we are running out of dry ground to keep moving cattle to.
To take the pressure off grazing ground, we are selling off a small group of cull cows this week.
We also have 30 store bullocks at grass and they are grazing their way back towards the yard.
At the weekend I will make the decision whether to house them. They have not been getting meal, as they have performed well on grass.
However, they may now be better o? indoors on high-quality silage rather than grazing wet grass.
There is little point keeping them out if they are losing weight.
Farmer focus: Jonathan Blair, Ballykelly, Co Derry
We had 46.8mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period from Friday to Saturday. Fields had a lot of surface water lying in them over the weekend.
Thankfully, we have all of the silage ground back in the grazing rotation. This has enabled us to spread cattle out over a bigger area.
Although cattle are grazing in smaller groups, there is still some poaching of swards, but nothing that will cause lasting damage.
We have used electric fences to keep cattle off the wettest areas in fields. Cows are also moving on 24/36-hour grazing breaks.
I have found that where cows are moving to fresh grass every day, they are much more content and doing less damage.
Grass growth has also slowed significantly, and over the past week growth rate has dropped below cattle demand
Calves are being offered creep feed in troughs, which are also moved daily. Again, this is preventing damage to swards.
The bullocks are also getting 2kg/day of concentrate. If wet weather persists, I will consider bringing these animals into the shed and finishing them indoors.
Constantly grazing wet grass will not be doing much for weight gain in bullocks, regardless of how good sward quality is.
Grass growth has also slowed significantly, and over the past week growth rate has dropped below cattle demand.
However, there is little point spreading nitrogen while fields are wet.
Housing the bullocks will take some pressure off the grazing block and help to build a wedge in front of cows.
Read more
Five tips for housing cattle in wet conditions
First cattle housed this weekend in Newford Farm
Farmer focus: Barry Carty, Garrison, Co Fermanagh
Our farm would be naturally heavy and when ground gets wet, grazing cattle can cause a lot of damage in a short period of time.
I housed 10 autumn-calving cows and calves last Thursday.
They have since returned to grass as I managed to free up more ground.
To ease the pressure on ground, I weaned 20 spring-born calves last week. The calves averaged 310kg at weaning.
As grass growth is running below livestock demand, the plan is to house the weaned calves this weekend.
The dry cows were moved to the mountain, freeing up paddocks with better grazing for autumn-calving cows
Once indoors, they will be fed 1.5kg/head of concentrate on a daily basis, along with high-quality, first-cut silage, which analysed at 74 D-value.
The dry cows were moved to the mountain, freeing up paddocks with better grazing for autumn-calving cows.
There are 22 autumn-born stores grazing at present and 10 will be sold next week. This will free up more ground for autumn-calving cows.
Autumn calving is well under way, with 20 cows calved since the beginning of August and back at grass. The remaining 20 cows should hopefully calve this month.
Farmer focus: Oliver McKenna, Eskra, Co Tyrone
The rain over the past week has made the farm wet and ground is getting tricky to manage.
I have already housed the autumn-born bulls and autumn cows which are on the point of calving.
The bulls were housed back in mid-August for intensive finishing.
They were getting unsettled at grass, but it was also time to bring them in for finishing regardless of weather.
The autumn cows were housed as they were easier managed ahead of calving.
There are 14 autumn cows and calves back at grass, with the remainder still housed.
To keep grazing cattle settled, I am moving animals around paddocks on 24/48-hour grass allocations
Calving pens are now full, but I do not want to put freshly calved cows out in wet weather.
Therefore, these cows will remain housed until the weather settles.
To keep grazing cattle settled, I am moving animals around paddocks on 24/48-hour grass allocations.
Cattle are not cleaning swards out properly and there is some poaching of ground, but nothing too severe at the moment.
The spring cows have been split into smaller groups, based on bull or heifer calves and this has eased the pressure on ground.
Silage ground is also wet and I have been unable to get slurry out after the second cut.
Tanks are relatively full and I need to get them emptied before the autumn cows are housed for breeding at the end of the month.
Farmer focus: Ryan McDowell, Gleno, Co Antrim
After a brief re-housing period back in June, our farm became very wet again in mid to late August, and we housed cows on 21 August.
Conditions did improve soon after and cows were turned back out to grass on 28 August.
However, we had 26mm of rain on Saturday and if we had known so much rain would materialise, the cows would have stayed indoors.
Cows were moved onto an outdoor tank, which meant there were fewer health risks with young calves as they were still out in fresh air.
Ground has become very sticky and cattle are poaching swards once the bulk of the grass cover has been grazed off.
We also have 30 store bullocks at grass and they are grazing their way back towards the yard
Therefore, we are trying to move animals to fresh grass every day. This seems to be working and animals are happy to move.
However, we are running out of dry ground to keep moving cattle to.
To take the pressure off grazing ground, we are selling off a small group of cull cows this week.
We also have 30 store bullocks at grass and they are grazing their way back towards the yard.
At the weekend I will make the decision whether to house them. They have not been getting meal, as they have performed well on grass.
However, they may now be better o? indoors on high-quality silage rather than grazing wet grass.
There is little point keeping them out if they are losing weight.
Farmer focus: Jonathan Blair, Ballykelly, Co Derry
We had 46.8mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period from Friday to Saturday. Fields had a lot of surface water lying in them over the weekend.
Thankfully, we have all of the silage ground back in the grazing rotation. This has enabled us to spread cattle out over a bigger area.
Although cattle are grazing in smaller groups, there is still some poaching of swards, but nothing that will cause lasting damage.
We have used electric fences to keep cattle off the wettest areas in fields. Cows are also moving on 24/36-hour grazing breaks.
I have found that where cows are moving to fresh grass every day, they are much more content and doing less damage.
Grass growth has also slowed significantly, and over the past week growth rate has dropped below cattle demand
Calves are being offered creep feed in troughs, which are also moved daily. Again, this is preventing damage to swards.
The bullocks are also getting 2kg/day of concentrate. If wet weather persists, I will consider bringing these animals into the shed and finishing them indoors.
Constantly grazing wet grass will not be doing much for weight gain in bullocks, regardless of how good sward quality is.
Grass growth has also slowed significantly, and over the past week growth rate has dropped below cattle demand.
However, there is little point spreading nitrogen while fields are wet.
Housing the bullocks will take some pressure off the grazing block and help to build a wedge in front of cows.
Read more
Five tips for housing cattle in wet conditions
First cattle housed this weekend in Newford Farm
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