Beef grazing 2024

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122167605#Comment_122167605

That's exactly what's happening here!... the gods are not aligned

morphy87

the weekends rain has really soaked places, it’s the wettest I have see all year, cattle have literally ploughed a field of grass into the ground, if this weather continues it’s going to be very serious, dairy men that I know still have cows in at night and a few hours during the day

Siamsa Sessions

It’s the year that keeps on giving. Heifers cut up another paddock here the other night after all the rain Saturday night.

Cavanjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122191203#Comment_122191203

what part of the country is that?

morphy87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122191452#Comment_122191452

south east, how are people finding growth? The meadows made a great burst for a while but anything that’s grazed is very slow to come back

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122191522#Comment_122191522

I feel your pain...went to see cattle there after work and you would think its November. The water is actually lying on the ground now as the water table must be to maximum. The funny thing is we had no rain today.

Cavanjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122191522#Comment_122191522

it’s not like that up here at all. Was plenty of rain last night but ground is holding up but another couple of days rain without any drying in between would change all that. . We didn’t have the deluges up here that you had down there a week or two ago. Growth is flying here after the rain over the last few days.

endainoz

Ground holding up well in the west, fair bit of rain last night though. Dry weather going forward and weekend looking well.

morphy87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122192293#Comment_122192293

All I say is I hope you don’t get it, I have never seen it so bad, cattle not thriving either

Cavanjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122192507#Comment_122192507

it’s some difference in a small country. Hopefully things will improve at the wknd.

PoorFarmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122192293#Comment_122192293

I think we escaped a lot of the absolute deluges here too (South-West), walked a few silage fields last night and crops are starting to lodge in patches which was a surprise, only a week max behind on good years really. Ground would be heavy here but not overstocked after the winter so running them through the worst of the ground fairly quickly to reduce their impact. Holding up very well so far with the worst affected areas being anywhere they would be gathering for shelter or water. Baled some rushes that went out of control after last year and got slurry out with out any damage on ground that was grazed 2 weeks before.

Growth in general has been fairly good here so far, heavy covers that could have been taken out for bales really in places but grazed them out due to a few rushes. Hopefully get a few more tanks out next week to push things along but so far things are fair enough considering how bad last year ended up.

older by the day

Be wary, a neighbour lost a grand bullock with red water today

Conversations 3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122196017#Comment_122196017

Is it common enough or does it depend on the area?

What's the first obvious sign?

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122196497#Comment_122196497

Animal lethargic, making strange, staying away from main group, if they move in a group animal will be straggler and slow or not follow, not much of an appetite or none, noticeable loss in condition, if its on a bit and they are lying and you rouse them, wait around and if they urinate it will be pink/red tinged and frothy…..the best way if prevention isnt possible is to keep an eye on stock regularly and intervene quickly if an animal isnt behaving typically (it might not be red water but if its any of the symptoms short of red/pink/frothy urine…theres still something wrong with them that needs looking after if you dont want to run the risk of losing them

At they point where the urine is pink or frothy theyve had it for a while…maybe a couple of weeks but if you ring a vet and get them quick the situation can still be salvaged……albeit it can be a long road back depending on how far on they are and the withdrawal is about 2/3 of a year….so all in all, a balls of a situation.

Its relatively common in damp boggy fields with rushes in them (you can see the tick on them sometimes and its a parsite they transmit to the animal when they bite)……people have different strategies for minimising instances….dont graze area in early spring/autumn when tick is most active (it can be got at any stage though)…some pour ons give protection for 2/3 weeks.

Lads generally know the fields it tends to happen in and in general if you havenent had it before in an area and its mostly grasss then theres very little risk….having said that we didnt have it here for 30years in an outfarm and now its back…I could be wrong but I suspect the wetter weather, more rushes popping up and not being able to mow them out of it until later summer contributory factors

Cavanjack

Are ye putting out much nitrogen/fertiliser? Cattle seem to have gotten through grass very fast especially after this last cold week.
I’ve spread some blocks of ground twice already and think I’m going to have to go again. Other years I’d have nothing spread yet. Cattle seem to be flying though.

memorystick

My neighbour has a bullock sick from the sun. Anti inflammatories and keep inside.

Going dosing in the morning.

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122242761#Comment_122242761

Same problem here.

Tileman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122244538#Comment_122244538

very same here. I had one or two paddocks I was letting on for silage but think I will have to graze them now as there is no regrowth on paddocks. Stock all seem happy though

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122242761#Comment_122242761

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122244538#Comment_122244538

What sort of rotation are you trying to run. I think you need a minimum of 28-30 ways between grazing and about 5-6 day paddocks. In an ideal world you need to be moving every three days but that is not really feasible. Usually spread about 12 units of N between grazing. If I get really tight I give a top up or increase N if earlier in the rotation

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122248965#Comment_122248965

Running two groups with 21 day ish rotation and three day graze. Spreading fert is something i would do however (dare i say it) no great rain.

Siamsa Sessions

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122248965#Comment_122248965

You've hit the nail on the head - every farm needs its own routine and should ignore what the IFJ is telling them.

I'm not calling anyone on here a poster boy or Teagasc sheep, but your post is a good reminder to have your own plan for rotation length, fertiliser applications, paddock size, no. of animals in any one group, how easy it is to move animals, how much time you have, weather, etc.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122249298#Comment_122249298

Two short a time frame IMO, even teagasc now acknowledge that 1400 covers are too low for beef, they are talking about 16-1800 hundred. I think you want 1800 at least. I know you might have to top after 2000 covers but thrive is fantastic off them if you top as cattle have 24 hours left. You be surprised how much cattle will eat up in 24-36 hours after topping

endainoz

Plenty of rain due the next few days anyway, ground is pretty hard though.

Cavanjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122248965#Comment_122248965

I’d be aiming for something similar to that, 25 plus days anyway and graze in 5 to 7 days. It’s not practical for a part time man to move so often. If it’s wet they’ll get through it quicker. I don’t mind going into heavy covers and I think dry cattle thrive away as long as their bellies are full and it’s not too wet.

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122249821#Comment_122249821

I take on board what you are saying however some of that ground is reseeded.

Robson99

Always find if cattle are getting meal at grass they are better off on stronger grass than soft grass / afterwards. Prob the fibre content of the stemier grass. Move every 7 days or so and as Bass says its amazing the clean out they will give if left in the field for a day after topping

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122251461#Comment_122251461

at ppresent cattle are thriving better on older pasture than land reseeded 10 years ago

Siamsa Sessions

Depends on the location of different paddocks too. Where I have heifers now is old pasture and it’s long grass. But it’s surrounded by hedges and trees. They’re happy out.

They wouldn’t be half as content on the supposed perfect 1400 covers on some of the more open paddocks here.

Cavanjack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122252517#Comment_122252517

there’ll be none of them happy today with the rain that’s forecast

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122253149#Comment_122253149

Pure lack of warmth in the air. Things starting to tighten up on the grass front. I'm finding after grass off ground grazed this spring is bouncing back way quicker.

Thing are going to tighten further as with the rain demand is going to go up, growth is not going to catch up until the winds swing to a southerly direction. The dry weather had driven the DM of grass up high so less grass kept cattle happy. The next 10 days are going to be squeaky bumb time