Cows in back paddock (water everywhere but no grass to eat)
I finally gave in and let the cows into the back paddock. The original idea was to keep them in the top quarter by putting up the electric netting. I was going to mow a strip to allow the netting to sit right but the ride-on wouldn't start, Steve and I did our best following rabbit hollows. I also attached a solar energiser, although one energiser for five lengths of netting wasn't enough. All our work was wasted because the cows just walked straight over the netting on the first night.
The reason for this unprecedented move was that there was hardly any grass left for them in the front half and the price of bales of lucerne hay is $24. The Murray Greys were pushing their way through any fence they could to try and get to better grass, each time finding that the next paddock wasn't any better than the last. I have been checking them each morning and they haven't eaten the little gum trees we planted, yet. It looks like they think they're in grass heaven, hardly lifting their heads to say hello. As long as they don't eat the trees, I guess they can stay there for a while. Of course I will have to retrieve the netting next weekend.
The week before last we received over 100ml of rain (spread out over the week). So the tanks were full and the front dam has 4 foot of water (according to my Dad's new measuring post). Of course the shed tank has lost almost all of its water (because I haven't had the leak fixed yet) but the house tanks are still almost full.