It has been far from a smooth spring grazing so far, following one of the wettest starts to the year experienced in a long time.

Many farms will need a solid two weeks of dry weather before they can think about getting cows out, considering how saturated land is in areas.

However, according to Met Éireann, there is a good spell of dry weather for the week, meaning many farmers may get the much-needed opportunity to get cows out to grass.

Some patches of rain have been forecasted in areas, but with longer days and drier weather, some farmers should still aim to get cows out in drier paddocks to get a bit of grass into the diet.

Damage control will still be a major concern on many farms, therefore getting your allocations and management will be crucial.

Grass allocations

With grass growth inching towards 9kg dry matter (DM)/ha, there are very few fields in the 400-600kg DM/ha where farmers usually first target.

This makes management that bit trickier, especially when trying to get a clean clear out.

In terms of nailing grass allocations, the herd's diet will depend on how long your cows have calved.

However, at this time of the year allocating roughly 6-7kg DM of grass by day is a safe shout, increasing this twice weekly if clean outs are good and cows can continue to get out.

Calculate the number of cows by the allocation of grass, e.g., 100 cows x 6kg DM = 600kg DM.

If the herd is grazing a 1.8ha paddock with a grass cover of 1,000kg DM/ha, there would be 1,800kg DM available in the paddock (1.8ha x 1,000kg DM/ha).

Then take that figure of 1,800 and divide it by the required 600kg DM, and you will get a figure of three grazings.

If you split the 1.8ha paddock into three grazings, you will be allocating 0.6ha/grazing or 6,000m².

If that paddock is 80m wide, divide 6,000m² by 80 and you will get 75m. This means that in this paddock, you have to step out 75m in order to allocate the cows an appropriate amount of grass.

This calculation can be easily adjusted to suit paddock size, covers, and herd numbers.

However, it should not be taken as a certainty as the cow's demand will change every day and each grazing will have to analysed and a decision made whether the cows need more or less grass.

Damage control

Spring grazing needs to be flexible and well managed to prevent damage during the challenging conditions we have faced this spring.

Farmers have been advised not to be deterred after the first grazing, as heifers will jump around with excitement and ultimately cause damage to the paddock.

This will fizzle out after a day or two at grass, and keeping that positive mindset to get cows out could be hugely beneficial, even if it is only a three-hour allocation.

Getting silage allocations right will play a big role in getting spring grazing right, as cows need to be going to grass hungry after milking.

Use methods such as the set-up of back fences, spur roadways, and multiple access points to paddocks for successful spring grazing.

Every farm is different, so it is important to remember that damage control and allocations will be a trial and error process.