The grazing season on farms for 2022 is drawing to a close, with October signalling the beginning of the closing of paddocks.
The general aim for October is to graze 60% of your farm during the month and the remaining 40% in November.
Once a paddock has been grazed for the final time it is important that it is not grazed again this year.
If conditions are good it can be difficult to house animals, but failing to do so will have an impact on how early you can graze in the spring.
The average farm cover (AFC) figures are likely going to be hard to achieve this year, due to the reduced growth rates experienced by many farms, resulting in a lower than ideal AFC.
Closing paddocks
But it is not as simple as just closing paddocks, as when you close a paddocks it is important that it is done in a certain order to obtain maximum benefit come spring.
The 60% of your farm grazed in October needs to be divided again into two 30% areas of farm.
The first 30% should be closed by October 20. These paddocks are often the ones further away from the yard and may also be selected as they are difficult to graze or access is poor.
If on target, this 30% will be grazed from March 1 to March 17, next spring.
Early spring paddocks
The second 30% closed will be the first paddocks grazed next spring.
These paddocks should be grazed for the final time this year between October 20 and November 1.
If these paddocks are grazed before that, first covers will be too heavy and clean out will be poor. After calving, cows’ intakes are reduced and grazing covers that are too heavy will only lead to a poor residual.
The paddocks that clover was sown in this year should likely be included in this section.
Final 40%
The final 40% of the farm to be grazed in spring should be the paddocks furthest away from the yard. They might be the paddocks with the poorest grazing infrastructure and/or silage ground.
These paddocks should be grazed last in the autumn. By the time you reach these paddocks the majority, if not all the cows, should be calved.
A large number of cows will be grazing, and ground conditions should also have improved by this time of the year to the handle the larger number of cows.