Mud – the gumboot-sucking, cow-energy-sapping stuff which carries your farm’s precious nutrients into the nearest waterway.
Every winter it’s what dairy farmers want to avoid at all costs.
Rain, low temperatures and cows walking on soil all make mud and there is not much any farmer can do to change the weather or make their cows float above the ground so minimising the amount of mud we create, and stopping it going anywhere, is what wintering is all about.
And it’s a fight that starts long before the days start to shorten.
Choose the right winter crop paddocks in late spring/early summer. They should not be too steep and drainage areas should be fenced off or at least left in grass.
Cultivate across the slope rather than up and down it so the lines of crop, and the ridges that cultivation creates, stops water, soil and nutrients moving easily down the slope.
If the paddock is too steep to cultivate across the slope then it is too steep to feed winter crop on.
By leaving long grass in access ways (gateways) and drainage areas (also known as critical source areas), it stops mud forming.
In winter keep them fenced off and graze them last, if at all, on a dry day, and then move the cows off them as quickly as possible before they turn into mud.
It’s not only good for your soils and waterways, but will keep your tractor driver smiling when they go to cultivate the paddock again. You can’t cultivate mud.
Graze from the top down or, if this is impractical because of the length of fences needed, from one side to the other, making sure there is a large buffer zone at the bottom.
Studies have shown doing this can stop 80 to 90% of soil losses into waterways and with that soil also go your precious nutrients, especially phosphorus.
Place balage, hay and straw on the crop paddock for each daily break when the paddock is dry in summer or late autumn. Trying to put it on daily in winter makes mud which quickly turns into deep ruts if the same track is followed, damaging your soil structure and your tractor.
If you’re unsure how much supplement to put on, because the crop is still growing, put more on than you think you will need. You can always fence it off unfed and move it away in the spring if you have too.
Just like us, cows don’t like walking through mud and they aren’t too keen to lie down in mud either and lying down for a cow is important.
They need at least eight hours a day lying time to keep them healthy and not losing weight.
Studies show that cows lie down less in wet weather and afterwards if they can’t find dry ground.
Yesterday’s break, and the one they’ve eaten today, is where you will find most of your cows will hang out together because that will be the driest. They will be standing there or lying down, even after all of the feed is gone.
If you have shelter such as trees somewhere else in the paddock they will also go there but they use energy walking back and forth between that day’s break and the shelter. The same with the water trough.
That energy they are using you have to replace with more feed.
It makes sense to keep cows happy in one place with everything they need. Walking back and forth between the crop face, the water trough and shelter just makes mud.
Instead back fence every few days, or at least after a week, even if it means cutting them off from the trees.
Cows don’t mind the cold like we do. They have a rumen full of microbes generating heat to keep them warm and cosy and southern cows grow thicker skins than their North Island cousins.
But keep an eye on the weather forecast and keep an eye on your cows. They will tell you when they’ve had enough of the wind and the rain.
If feeding kale, which grows a metre high or more, use the kale as shelter so you feed the crop into the prevailing wind.
If the crop face is wet, put straw down if you can so the cows can lie on it.
In times of really bad weather, let cows back to the natural shelter and provide balage or hay there, and a water trough, to reduce walking and mud making.
Portable water troughs are cheap to buy or make and, although can freeze up in frosty weather, are becoming an essential tool for winter crop feeding.
Bend the ball cock arm if needed so they don’t fill up all the way with water so they’re easier to empty when you shift them.
Cows do need water when they are eating winter crop but it’s a lot less than in the summer heat and in mid-lactation. Keep an eye on your cows to make sure you are providing enough water – it should be rare that you see a water trough mobbed in winter like you do in summer.
Also roll the portable trough out through the crop if possible. This stops cows standing on the water pipe and keeps the pipe clean – making it a lot easier to move.
Taking cows off crop paddocks after they have eaten the break and on to standoff areas can help but cows like lying on concrete about as much as they like lying on wet ground.
You may also get feet problems and moving a large number of animals through gateways and along farm tracks can make more mud than leaving them in the paddock.
The weather may be terrible, and all you want to do is head inside, but take the time when shifting cows on to a new break to give them a good look over.
Check any cows that hang back that aren’t interested in eating, watch body condition score, make sure the ground they’re on isn’t turning to mud and if it is then do something. Sacrificing another break of feed can be better than making more mud, as long as the cows are well transitioned on to the crop.
If you’ve grazed the winter crop off and the paddock is firm enough to get machinery on it, grow a catch crop rather than leaving the soils bare until late spring or early summer
Having something growing maintains soil structure and stops run off in times of heavy spring rains. It also utilises the nitrogen left from the cows while grazing and the breaking down of any crop trodden into the ground.
And if you don’t use that nitrogen it will end up in the waterways – a loss to your farm and not good for the environment.
Think about planting oats which germinate at a lower temperature than grass and don’t require as much cultivation. Rip the paddock to reduce compaction and don’t worry if the seed bed is not as smooth as you’d like it.
Getting something growing is more important.
After you bale the oats in summer, soil conditions should be perfect then to create a weed-free, smooth paddock of pasture that you can be proud of.
Or, get in there with grass in September. You might grow a few weeds and have to over sow a few bare patches but your cows will be eating the paddock before Christmas.
