Managing in the heat

Hot season strategies

Paddock rotation

If you have conducted a whole farm review, you will have a sense of how paddocks rate in terms of shade and distance from the dairy.

If you see a meltdown event looming you can use this information to alter your paddock rotation.

It may be that it is hardly worth sending the cows down the paddocl between morning and afternoon milking in very hot weather. In this situation it makes sense to stand the cows on a sacrifice paddock or feed pad close to the dairy with access to shade and sprinklers, and feed them a high-quality forage or partial mixed ration (PMR), and allocating your best paddocks for grazing overnight.