The 2023 spring-grazing season, for most, has gotten off to an exceptionally good start, but the rain expected this week could hamper this somewhat.
In the south and the east of the country many farmers have a good portion of the farm grazed and are most likely ahead of target.
Grazing targets:
- 33% grazed by March 1;
- 66% grazed by March 20;
- 100% grazed by April 10.
Spring grazing
Getting cows to grass early in the spring is important to get paddocks grazed and set up the farm for the grazing season ahead.
The main aims of early grazing are to feed the cow, minimise poaching and achieve residuals.
These are all much easier to achieve when weather conditions are favourable, but should still be achievable to get cows out to grass.
Farmers should still aim to get cows out to grass during the wet weather, where possible.
The question should be ‘how long can cows spend grazing’ rather than ‘can they go out’.
It helps to make use of the grazing infrastructure on the farm, use on-off grazing and reduce the amount of time cows spend at grass.
Reduce the size of the area that cows are grazing and the amount of time they spend out also helps, along with using spur roadways and back fencing to protect areas that have already been grazed.
Everyday the cows get to grass is less silage that needs to be fed – which in times of inflation is a good thing – but too much grazing should not be done if excessive damage is being caused to land.
Tetany
Farmers need to be cautious, as there have been a number of cases of grass tetany or hypomagnesaemia seen in animals that have been turned out to grass.
If undetected, cases could prove to be very costly to farmers, and likely result in the loss of an animal.
Cows may need to be supplemented with 30g of Mg (or 60g of calcined magnesite)/day during the high-risk period.
The need for this should be discussed with your vet and/or nutritionist to determine if your herd requires supplementation.