Having the appropriate paddock size for the grazing season will ensure maximum grass intake, cut down on meal costs, and ensure optimal post-grazing residuals are achieved.

As we get further into the lactation and the autumn months, a bit of time should be allocated to ensuring that your paddock sizes are appropriate for a number of grazing and full grazings without pinching the herds' intake.

Having the right paddock size will make life a lot easier for both the farmer and the cows, as it will help cows reach their energy requirements through grass and be less labour intensive for the farmer.

Wrong paddock sizes can not only impact cow performance but it can lead to more labour, as cows may have to be moved in the middle of the day, strip wire implemented more often, and extra supplementation may have to be added to their diet to bridge the nutritional gap, which is also costly.

Proper allocations ensures that first lactation and less dominant cows are fully fed, and even moving from a 24-hour to a 36-hour allocation can make a difference, particularly in younger cow performance.

Milk production can be compromised when cows have to be moved midday when paddocks fall between one and two grazings or between two and three grazings.

To work out what your paddock size should be, farmers should use the following calculation:

Cow numbers X 19kg of grass (may vary between herds) X 1.5 days = cow requirement for three grazings ÷ 1,400kg DM/ha(pre-grazing yield) = the size of paddock in hectares to accommodate three grazings.

Example: 120 cows X 19kg DM grass X 1.5 days = 3,420 ÷ 1,400kg DM/ha = 2.44ha paddock required.

As a general rule of thumb, for a 100 cow herd, 5ac or 2ha will need to be allocated for a 36-hour grazing period - every 10 cows in the herd require 0.5 acres for 36-hour grazings.

A 36-hour paddock is the ideal target but is sometimes impossible due to farm layout, etc. However, farmers need to ensure the paddock is either 24 hours or 36 hours and not in-between to allow for full herd nutrition.

Investing in mapping out your farm this autumn may be a good idea as well, as many farmers find out that their grazing area is smaller than they thought when roadways, ditches and yards are taken into account.

Having a map of the farm with accurate acreage in each paddock will also help contractors ensure precise fertiliser and slurry management - communication for staff and contractors is a lot easier through a physical map.

Roadways to paddocks should also be looked at, as for a herd with 150 cows or fewer, a roadway width of 4.5m is adequate, with an additional 0.5m for every extra 100 cows advised.

Good roadway infrastructure will help with grazing in the new year, as access to paddocks and multiple access points to paddocks is crucial for the shoulders of the year, when the weather is not always on your side.

Farmers should also make sure when altering their paddock size that cows still have plenty of access to water, bearing in mind that paddocks will be split in the early stages of spring.

A flow rate of 0.2L per cow/minute and a trough volume of about 5-7L/cow is generally recommended. For example, a flow rate of 30L per minute and approximately 900L (240 gallons) troughs per 150 cows.