Although grazing for many is still a few weeks away, it is important that you are ready to get cows out when conditions allow you to do so.
Many farms are yet to start calving, and for those that have, cows are remaining in the shed for now on the majority of farms.
Although it may be a few weeks away yet, you should recommence the walking of paddocks on your farm.
You need to determine what the average farm cover (AFC) for your farm is now.
Now is a good opportunity to get prepared for grazing, before you get too busy.
Grazing
You should start by completing a spring rotation planner – this will aid you when allocating grass for your cows each day, and make sure you don’t end up finishing your first round too soon.
For the first few weeks at least, silage is likely going to remain in the diet, but getting grass into cows and getting area grazed is vital.
Teagasc grazing targets for the spring are that of 30% by March 1; 65% by March 17; and 100% by early April. These targets are about 10 to 12 days later for heavy/wet farms.
The first paddocks used for grazing should have light covers, you will only have a small number of cows calved and their intakes will be low.
This paddock will generally have been closed during the second 30% of paddocks closed last autumn.
Freshly calved cows will only consume a low level of dry matter (DM), so light covers should be grazed first to reintroduced grass to the diet and prevent wastage.
The grazing of the heavier covers should be postponed until a good percentage of the herd has calved, their appetite has improved and weather conditions have hopefully improved.
This will hopefully result in the residuals being met, and only a small amount of grass being wasted.
Equipment
You also need to check power in the fences is still at a good level, and there is no breaks in power to any of the paddocks.
Reels and pigtails/standards are going to be a key tool for every dairy farmer this spring, as they assist in managing grass intakes, preventing waste and also preventing paddocks from becoming damaged.
Check that all your reels are in good working order and the wire is still holding power – older wire can become damaged and not hold a current.
These pieces of grazing management equipment can often become damaged or go missing during the year, so having spare parts to-hand can be useful.
It may also be a good idea to make a storage area for this equipment if you haven’t done so already.