The extended grazing season has been a fantastic boost but if the cattle eat it all now, it will not be there at the other end of the winter

Keep good records of any heats you see, regardless of if you are using AI or a stock bull. One of the main purposes of this should be to allow you to identify cows not cycling and in need of intervention

Grazed grass is currently exceptionally low in protein due to poor nitrogen uptake and poor growing conditions, meaning cows are deficient in dietary protein

At turn-out, the most important thing to monitor is grass intake and Rumen fill

One really important thing that can't be overemphasised is the transition from the close-up dry cow period into the early lactation stage.  Cows should remain on their dry cow diet until after they have calved.

If you are feeding the incorrect ration with available silage, then overfeeding of energy or protein will result in excessive costs.

The variation in temperatures has proved challenging with many reports of respiratory issues in all ages of cattle.

The feed value of this year’s silage has been significantly influenced by the weather we had in April and May, along with a very poor July.

Feeding her when she is dry is not free

In times of high feed cost, optimisation rather than maximisation should be the target