Managing cattle during dry seasons requires forward planning

Brett Littler, Local Land Services, Mudgee, said while any rain in the coming weeks could have a big difference on the season, it was important people were thinking ahead.

"The fact of the matter is we know fodder prices have moved terrifically, there's lots of people buying, we've seen livestock prices come back," he said.

"One of the best bits of advice I've had over the years is to have a plan and be active in that plan, follow it and follow it though."

He encouraged producers to shop around when buying feed as there were big variations in the quality of fodder of grain.

"I would definitely be asking for a feed test," he said.

"Don't guess - get a feed test."

Pasture testing carried out by the LLS had displayed large amounts of dead feed, which would impact the amount and efficiency of grazing.

"We have, in a lot of places, got a lot of this dry standing feed," he said.

"With sheep it's probably not as big an issue because they'll go through and pick it out quite successfully but if it's cows in that situation they're going to be taking a lot of dead feed in with that green.

"What we have seen over the last couple of years, a lot of this dry feed's been weathered, we haven't had a lot of the growth and nutrition and the like, and we're seeing some very very low quality, poor digestibility feeds about."

Dead feed mixed in with green made it harder to develop fodder budgets, he said, but it was still important that producers spent time walking through the pasture to understand what the cattle were eating.

"Have a look at when you're cows are sitting down," he said.

"The later they sit down in the day is telling me the longer it's taking them to fill up on the first graze.

"Look at some of these animal behavioural things and that gives you a bit of a trigger to say what's going on."

Producers were often guilty of starting supplements several weeks too late, and he urged people to keep an eye on the height of cattle manure.

The more height, the slower the throughput, meaning the cattle weren't eating as much and the quality was likely reduced.

"If you're starting to see that, that's your triggers, particularly if you've got some production goals for those cattle," he said.