All stock out full time still, using cows to get thru as much as I can but weather nearly beating me. Have the wettest ground grazed but the rain ain't coming in small bits and pieces either. In calf heifers will be housed by the wkend and calves the following week weather dependant. If the end of the week comes bad and cows are forced in I may use the remaining ground for calves. Have only 5 empty cows to offload and possibly a bull or two.
Just on the talk of grazing by calender etc, it is just about having enough grass in spring. If spring demand is low its not such an issue but if you are regularly grazing into December and can't get stock out till april/ May then the main reason is that the farm has been grazed too tight along with any damage taking longer to recover in terms of moisture.
The only real issue is where ground becomes liquidised in to slurry(around a feeding area) or very heavy ground. I have even seen with early spring grazing where ground gets damaged it will have recovered fairly fast. The actual trick with that ground is to not to be afraid regraze in the rotation and a quick light roll
Really heavy land may need to be treated slightly different but in general lads can be afraid of a little damage when there is no need to
A small bit of damage is not an issue but too much will take a lot longer to recover next spring.
If it gets tramped/ploughed now it’ll hold lots of water and take longer to dry in the spring
Land that gets damaged now can get a run of a chain harrow in spring when ground condition allow. Then a fast run with an empty land roller.
If land gets ploughed up now it has 5 months to recover. You have to graze off grass at this time of year.
Yep, I agree with Eastern too.
There's frost now on May day and hardly any in October November.
Im farming wet land too, but this year, more than ever I'll be takeing every day's grazeing now I get, and will aim for a may month turn out if so be it.
The people giveing out about calender farming regarding spreading slurry, contradict themselves, with their determination of calender grazeing.
At the end of the day eastern has a valid point for his farm and lots more like him.
I find the last 6 years, roughly, that winter is Late Feb to mid march.
I've often had them out a few hours a day in January while mid march might be horrible.
The reality in the west of the country on all average to reasonable land after another days rain and if the wether stays unsettled 30 of them cows would have 30 acres ploughed in a fortnight .In the east it would be a different story probably .In the south west here we would have at least 2 inches of rain every week with the last 5 weeks so the rain ie taking its toll at this stage ,same story every year dam lucky to get to the 1st of november and any day more is a bonus grazing for adult cattle
I agree with easten on one thing, you can't foresee what conditions will be like next spring. Not much point having grass for early grazing if you get a wet winter. farming heavy ground here and last few wet years land gets wetter from now on so try to keep winter as short as possible by keeping them out now. Now have to say lightly stocked here with factory cattle finishing up. Cows and calves get round bale of hay outside from now on, helps slow wet grass plus trying to get them to graze out fields well.
+1 on that.
I've ten left to finish. Luckily I have an acre of winter age covered in Hazel and tress. I use that all summer to feed my finishing stock so even in wet weather they aren't ploughing fields around feeding meal. There are 3 very dry fields around it and I can let them eat grass up to end of Nov unless horrible weather comes. Mid Oct I drop in a bale of hay in the ring feeder and that keeps the wet grass from running through them and from next week start of nov, they will start getting a bale of silage at the feeding barrier. This gives them access to good DM forage all the time. I can close off the fields if a few bad days come together and they are extremely content on their meal, silage and hay sheltering from the weather. They are just as happy when the electric fence is drawn back after a dry day or two going back to grass. Everyone has a different situation and a different farm. Even at the end of my land 800m away I couldn’t do what I do in the feeding area as the ground holds more water. I try not to abuse that part of the farm at the Start and end of the year.
Feeding cattle outside if you are working long hours off farm in a non runner this time of year but I know what you are saying.
I’ve two dogs but I’ve only one hammer 🤔🤔🤔
Yes and No. I have moved completely from winter finishing. I even find trying to polish cattle off in the shed for 6-8 weeks is only a break even game with a lot of dairy cross stock. I have eight left. There is the bones of a ton of ration in the bin. I want to convert that back into cash.
I will try to pick paddocks with lighter covers and use stores to eat out heavy covers.
Yes the field that gets damaged now gets 3 months or more in winter to recover.
Where the fook would I be going putting the likes of this lady in now, it could be the 1st week of June as far as she is concerned. I don't think any animal would choose to be standing in on slats for the next 6 months.
There is a very big difference in a field damaged now and a field damaged a bit next may, even if conditions are worse then.
Well that is the point I'm making, if the weather is unpredictable which we know it is then you should be working with it. I do take the point that heavy cattle near finishing are better off being housed for the few weeks to finishing but that's different to housing cattle now for the winter. Those cattle have a different diet requirement which would not be gotten outside this time of year.
Currently it's much milder than normal, ground is dryer as we had a very dry mid August to October. If you are in trouble with ground conditions then you are overstocked or have no business with heavy cattle like Suckler cows or heavy stores.
As an aside also, idk how anyone could get pissed off with anything said on boards. It's an anonymous posting form with absolutely no kyc for boards of any sort. You have every type of a fraud on here from financial advisors to catfish. If you are willing to believe half the stuff said then you should join that dog with the rubber mallet.......
Dry sucklers are in here. Most of the weanlings are still out bar what’s going to be fed on. I’ll stagger housing to suit here but a lot of the time it’s down to needing to for the easy life as I’m away working in the dark and home in the dark.
The weather is Canada is fairly predictable - the get warm dry summers and cold winters, it's a very different weather system to what we have in Ireland which I understand is the most difficult to predict due to our location between the Atlantic and the European land mass.
As an aside - I wonder after reading some of your comments/posts are you a troll or just trying to piss everyone on F&F off.
Only place for finishing stock this time of the year is in the shed. Unless you’ve very dry ground and they are a couple of weeks away from finishing.
That's pure nonsense, law of averages what next. What you are doing is Calendar farming. what happens if you get a late spring? you'd end up having cattle housed for 6 months!! You'd get a shorter winter in Canada
We housed the majority of feeding cows yesterday as all they were doing was ploughing up the paddock and getting stones stuck in their hooves. The sucklers, feeding heifers and young stock are still out but have access to hay (sucklers), the feed barrier (feeding heifers) and meal in the trough for the young stock.
Easier to get lighter stock out in early spring due to weight, less demand on grass and cause less damage. Law of averages leads to April and Mays being a hell of a lot better than late Octobers and Novembers. My housing is not determined by mild weather, like many many others in this country it's determined by soil moisture. I wish you well grazing into February
You could have the same conditions in May as you have now, maybe worse, I've seen plenty months of April and May where it's cold with no growth and hailstone showers.
If that's your reason for housing them now in this mild weather then you should be looking at an alternative farming system
Great if you have dry ground. Heavy wet ground, and it's a choice in the coming days or have no ground suitable to graze until next may. Lots of us not lucky to have a big bank of dry ground.
I know which choice I will be making this week. You farm the ground your on and not be influenced by some dog and with his rubber mallet
There are many reasons to have cattle indoors in some places.
The mallet shoved up the dog's hole might be there for sound medical reasons..
Wet ground getting tramped no doubt, Eastern.
Our stocking rate here is just on the 170kg/ha with our sheep and we won't have what grass is here grazed in a month and, as you say, it's still growing
How can you put in cattle with the temperatures in the mid teens. The weather is as mild now than we get at the end of any Summer, grass is still growing, cattle are happier and a lot healthier outside for now.
A dog with a rubber mallet stuck up it's hole wouldn't have cattle housed in this weather
