If you want to keep your nutrients on the paddock and out of the creek, here’s what works:

• Keep the cows moving. Short rotations, tight grazing windows. Don’t let them hang around in one spot too long or they’ll load it up with manure and beat the grass down.

• Watch the water points. If you always put the trough in the same place, you’ll end up with a manure patch there. Move water and minerals around so the nutrients get spread.

• Don’t let them camp in wet spots. Use a sacrifice paddock or laneway when it’s muddy so you’re not destroying good pasture and sending runoff downstream.

• High traffic areas? Clean ‘em. If manure builds up around the dairy shed, feed pads, or laneways, scrape it up and spread it back where the pasture needs it.

• Use the soil tests. You’ll be surprised—some paddocks will be rich in nutrients, others lagging. Spread the manure or compost where it’s short, not where it’s already loaded.

• Think buffers. Grass strips, tree lines, or riparian areas can catch nutrients before they hit the water.

• Time it right. Avoid heavy grazing or spreading just before a big rain—nothing good comes from watching your nutrients wash away.

Bottom line: keep the manure where the grass can use it. Move the cows, move the shade, move the water, and clean up the hot spots.

You’re dead right about moving the cows and the troughs. We switched to 24-hour moves a couple years back, and it’s like the manure spreads itself. One thing I’d add, don’t underestimate the power of a bit of compost work. We clean up around the feed pad, compost it down, then hit the paddocks that always seem to lag in growth. It’s kept our fertilizer bill down and the pasture more balanced.

Also, we fenced off our creek two seasons ago and let the buffer grow wild. I thought it was just a feel-good move, but I’ll tell you, the water tests came back cleaner, and we’ve got less weed pressure in those lower paddocks now. Pays off in ways you don’t always expect.