As we enter into October, the talk of closing off paddocks and starting the final rotation commences, as farmers need to be grazing with next spring in mind.

Current grass growth is holding up reasonably well for the time of year with an average growth across the country of 45kg dry matter (DM)/ha/day, according to PastureBase Ireland.

However, average farm cover (AFC) has only marginally improved from 849kg DM/ha to 863kg DM/ha and 57% of farms are still behind target.

These farms have an average AFC of 738kg DM/ha, which is below the target of 900-1100kg DM/ha AFC depending on the stocking rate.

The autumn grazing targets for different stocking rates and depending on your land type is as follows:

Following these targets is crucial to ensure there is a good sweep of grass when the farm is opened up next spring, as grass in the spring is at its most valuable, aiding in a better milk response.

The average diet across the country of those updating their data on PastureBase Ireland is currently at 13.5kg of grass, 4kg of meal, and 1.5kg of silage and current pre-grazing yields are 1,851kg DM/ha.

We are now at a point where growth rates will begin to drop below demand. Farms that are currently under the 700kg DM/ha AFC cannot graze more than the farm grows from now until closing, as the aim is to have a closing farm cover of 700kg DM/ha.

To achieve this, ensure the whole platform is available for grazing and that the herd's intake deficits through grass is supplemented with silage and meal. Silage will replace more grass in the diet.

For farms that are on target, with covers of above 900kg DM/ha, should now be managing a slow reduction in AFC each week to the closing AFC target, without dropping more than 80kg DM/ha in AFC in any individual week.

Closing off paddocks at this time of the year is generally influenced by ground and weather conditions, but your paddock choice during closing off is going to be crucial for grazing next spring.

In order to have a good start to grazing next spring, the drier paddocks with good grazing infrastructure and good roadways with plenty of access points need to be targeted.

These paddocks will have to be closed off by mid-October to ensure that there are decent covers of 800-1,200kg DM/ha to start off the grazing season next spring.

A lot of the country are receiving high levels of rainfall, which will make grazing more difficult and so allocating grass every 12 hours will be necessary to minimise damage. In cases, implementing on/off grazing might be necessary to keep grass in the diet.

Whatever you are allocating the cows, remember that the DM has dropped in the last week with heavy rainfall and higher growth rates, so make sure the cows are getting the right allocation and continue grazing down to a 4cm residual.

Your autumn rotation plan should be as follows:

40% grazed by October 20 - paddocks that are dry with decent access and further from the yard;
Another 30% grazed by November - dry, good access paddocks that are close to the yard;
Final 30% during November - awkward, further from the yard, and poorer infrastructure paddocks.

Use this planner as a guide as sometimes with heavy rainfall and weather conditions, farmers may need to graze paddocks out of this autumn rotation plan.

But by sticking to this plan even somewhat, it should help to have close, dry, and easy-accessed paddocks at optimal covers by spring next year.