For most the wet bank holiday weather will have been very welcome! With some rainfall in the forecast, soil moisture deficits should begin to reduce and grass growth rates are largely expected to improve over the next few weeks.

As the weather changes, responses in grass growth rates may be rapid – walk the whole platform at least weekly to track changes in grass covers, and adjust paddock sizes or grazing periods as required to meet intake requirements and keep utilisation high.

Grass quality remains very high. Where intakes can be met, an average ME of 12.4 MJ/kg DM should support an M+ yield of 23.3 kg from a 650 kg dairy cow (spring calved, DMI 16 kg DM), or an average daily gain of 1.17 kg from a 300 kg steer (6.6 kg DMI) from grass alone.