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How do you deal with mud?
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<blockquote data-quote="regolith" data-source="post: 650106" data-attributes="member: 9267"><p>"post peelings" - the shredded trees, I've seen used for indoor cattle and calf housing. It's an interesting material, seems to work well.</p><p></p><p>We got a few good months out of them on a wet patch near the entrance to the milking shed, then they composted, needed to be scraped away and replaced. As a short-term measure it worked really well.</p><p></p><p>Aside from drainage (as often a matter of where gates and tracks are sited as anything else) and filling in the worst parts with decent rubble or rock fines - organic materials are useful as an interim measure or for low-use areas, I've found - the rest is management.</p><p></p><p>I'm rotationally-grazing autumn-saved grass right through the NZ winter. We see plenty of mud. It's debateable whether any of our methods of countering it are of any use to you.</p><p>In the toolbox: on/off grazing and standing the cows on a hard surface during rain, keep them moving (reducing hoof damage in any one area), use every gateway available, run them back onto the pasture over long grass (the grass bears the weight so less soil damage), restricted square grazing areas, not disturbing them during the wet when they're on the soil, use sacrifice areas to feed hay or stand the cows off pasture (I'm not a fan of this - people who do it follow by ploughing and planting turnips on that area in spring).</p><p></p><p>Concrete is useful but...</p><p>The big bonus is that it's easy draining. The equally large drawback is that cattle used to pasture won't lie down on concrete till they're exhausted, and get exhausted standing on it very quickly. I'd like a concrete stand-off pad with thick rubber matting or wood chips for winter. And a water trough. And a roof. All plumbed in to the dairy effluent system.</p><p>Anyone can dream.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="regolith, post: 650106, member: 9267"] "post peelings" - the shredded trees, I've seen used for indoor cattle and calf housing. It's an interesting material, seems to work well. We got a few good months out of them on a wet patch near the entrance to the milking shed, then they composted, needed to be scraped away and replaced. As a short-term measure it worked really well. Aside from drainage (as often a matter of where gates and tracks are sited as anything else) and filling in the worst parts with decent rubble or rock fines - organic materials are useful as an interim measure or for low-use areas, I've found - the rest is management. I'm rotationally-grazing autumn-saved grass right through the NZ winter. We see plenty of mud. It's debateable whether any of our methods of countering it are of any use to you. In the toolbox: on/off grazing and standing the cows on a hard surface during rain, keep them moving (reducing hoof damage in any one area), use every gateway available, run them back onto the pasture over long grass (the grass bears the weight so less soil damage), restricted square grazing areas, not disturbing them during the wet when they're on the soil, use sacrifice areas to feed hay or stand the cows off pasture (I'm not a fan of this - people who do it follow by ploughing and planting turnips on that area in spring). Concrete is useful but... The big bonus is that it's easy draining. The equally large drawback is that cattle used to pasture won't lie down on concrete till they're exhausted, and get exhausted standing on it very quickly. I'd like a concrete stand-off pad with thick rubber matting or wood chips for winter. And a water trough. And a roof. All plumbed in to the dairy effluent system. Anyone can dream. [/QUOTE]
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