Article summary: Wet spells do more than slow grazing down. When animals pug wet soils, you can lose pasture growth for weeks, weaken persistence for seasons, and gradually shift the sward toward lower-performing species. This guide gives practical “when to get off” decision rules, stand-off and on-off grazing principles, and a recovery plan you can use in Ireland/UK winters, NZ shoulder seasons, and wet Australian regions.
Pugging is not just messy. It quietly taxes your farm for months
A wet period often looks like a short-term headache: muddy gateways, slower shifts, more supplement, harder stock flow.
The hidden cost is what happens next.
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Soil structure gets damaged and stays damaged.
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Roots struggle, drainage worsens, and regrowth slows.
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The best species lose ground, and poorer species move in.
If you want pasture that lasts, wet-soil decisions matter as much as spring rotations.
What pugging actually does to your pasture system
Pugging (hoof impressions and soil deformation) is a symptom of two things happening together:
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Soil strength is low (it cannot support weight), and
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Load is high (stock, time on paddock, traffic concentration around troughs and gateways).
The damage is not just surface deep.
1) Soil structure damage and compaction
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Hooves compress the soil and collapse pores.
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Water infiltration drops, drainage slows, and the soil stays wetter for longer.
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Roots face mechanical resistance and lower oxygen, which reduces recovery after grazing.
2) Plant damage
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Plants can be physically torn or buried.
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Growing points can be bruised or smothered.
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Clover is particularly vulnerable to being buried and shaded.
3) Grazing efficiency drops
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Intake and utilisation fall because animals struggle to harvest cleanly.
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Residuals rise in some areas while other areas are over-trampled.
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You often “pay twice”: lost pasture today, and slower regrowth tomorrow.
The pasture persistence lens: why repeated wet damage changes your sward
If wet grazing damage happens once, you might bounce back. If it repeats (or happens at the wrong time), it becomes a persistence problem.
Common patterns over time:
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Ryegrass and clover thin out, especially in wetter, lower-lying paddocks.
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Open ground appears, which invites weeds and lower-performing grasses.
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Sward composition shifts toward species that tolerate wet and treading, but often yield less or provide lower-quality feed.
That shift is expensive because it is gradual. You only notice it when performance has already slipped.
Early warning signs your pasture base is changing
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Clover presence noticeably declining each season
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More “patchiness” after grazing and slower evenness in regrowth
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Increasing invasion by opportunistic species and weeds
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Your best paddocks stay “OK”, but the weaker ones keep slipping backward
“When to get off”: practical decision rules that work in the real world
You do not need a perfect rule. You need a consistent one that triggers action before damage becomes irreversible.
Use these three checks together
1) The footprint test (quick and blunt)
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If a normal step leaves a shiny, wet footprint and the sides slump in, soil strength is low.
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If hoof prints are deep enough to “cup” water, you are already in the danger zone.
2) The grazing outcome test (what the animals are telling you)
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If animals are slipping, standing around, or walking more than grazing, utilisation is dropping and damage is rising.
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If residual control is gone (you cannot hit targets without forcing it), stop forcing it.
3) The recovery risk test (what happens if you stay)
Ask: If I stay another 12 hours, will I create damage that costs me more than the feed I am trying to harvest?
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If yes, get off.
A simple “traffic light” rule
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Green: light footprint, soil carries stock, residuals achievable.
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Amber: footprints forming, utilisation slipping, damage concentrated. Switch tactics (on-off, stand-off, lower pressure).
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Red: deep pugging, water in prints, tearing, slipping. Get off and protect the base.
Stand-off and on-off grazing: principles that actually reduce damage
Stand-off: keep weight off the paddock when soils are weakest
Stand-off means feeding animals off pasture (pad, yard, barn, sacrifice area) for the wettest part of the day or during peak rainfall events.
Key principles:
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Stand-off is a pasture investment. You are buying regrowth and persistence.
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Prevent damage, don’t “manage through it”. Once the soil is pugged, you cannot undo it quickly.
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Plan effluent and nutrient management. Standing off concentrates nutrients and solids. Make sure you are compliant and have a practical system for cleaning and runoff control.
On-off grazing: short grazing bouts, then off again
On-off grazing is useful when you still need pasture in the diet but want to protect soil.
How it works in practice:
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Feed first off-paddock, then put stock on for a short, controlled graze.
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Remove stock before damage accelerates, not after.
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Backfence to protect previously grazed area and reduce re-treading.
Common mistakes:
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Leaving animals on too long because “they’re already there”
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Grazing too low on wet soils (low residuals leave crowns exposed and reduce recovery)
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Concentrating traffic around one entry, one trough, one gateway
Wet-period tactics that reduce damage and speed recovery
Think of this as a toolkit. You do not need every tool, but you do need a plan.
Before the wet spell: set up your “wet-weather system”
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Identify your free-draining paddocks and make them your wet-weather rotation.
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Protect your high-value paddocks (young pastures, high clover content, expensive renovations).
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Set up multiple access points where possible to avoid a single churned gateway.
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Move troughs and minimise walking distance where practical.
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Decide your sacrifice strategy (which area can take damage if it prevents damage everywhere else).
During the wet spell: reduce pressure, concentrate strategy
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Lower stocking pressure on pasture by increasing supplement and standing off.
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Graze lighter classes where possible (lighter animals cause less damage).
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Prefer daytime grazing windows when the surface is firmer (often after some drying).
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Avoid repeated passes with vehicles. If you must travel, use the driest routes and minimise trips.
After the wet spell: manage for recovery, not appearance
It is tempting to “fix” pugging when it still looks ugly. Timing matters.
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Give damaged paddocks time to drain and firm up before any mechanical intervention.
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Focus on leaf area recovery and avoid grazing too early.
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If you have bare patches, consider over-sowing when conditions suit and competition is controlled.
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Track regrowth and adjust rotation so damaged paddocks are not repeatedly hit at the same weak stage.
Reseeding triggers: when recovery is unlikely without intervention
Not every paddock needs a full renovation. But some do, and delaying can compound the loss.
Consider a reseeding or renovation plan when:
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Bare ground and tufts are common, not isolated
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Desirable species (ryegrass/clover) are no longer dominant
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Regrowth remains poor even after soils dry and management normalises
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Weed pressure increases and “fills the gaps”
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You are repeatedly avoiding a paddock because it never seems to perform
A practical approach is to rank paddocks into:
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Recover with management (rest, rotation adjustments, minor over-sowing)
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Recover with targeted intervention (drainage fixes, regrassing parts, weed control)
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Rebuild (full renovation timed to your region’s best establishment window)
Region-flexible notes: Ireland/UK, NZ, wet Australia
Wet-soil principles are the same everywhere. The timing and constraints differ.
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Ireland/UK winters: long wet periods make stand-off and traffic control crucial. Protecting gateways, backfencing, and avoiding repeated low residual grazing are often the biggest wins.
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NZ shoulder seasons (autumn and early spring): growth can still be valuable, which makes on-off grazing and strict “get off” rules powerful. Soil moisture trends are often the best early-warning signal.
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Wet Australian regions (temperate zones, higher rainfall areas): the risk is often concentrated around events and heavy weeks. Having a pre-decided Plan B (stand-off, sacrifice, conserve quality) reduces reactive damage.
How to make this operational with Pasture.io
Wet-weather decisions improve when you can see the trend, not just the puddles.
In Pasture.io, a simple wet-period routine could be:
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Watch growth rates to see the recovery cost of damage
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Track rotation length and whether you are being forced to stretch
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Use paddock records to note damage events and compare regrowth after
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Identify which paddocks consistently struggle, then prioritise them for drainage, renovation, or protection next season
A simple wet-weather rule that pays back
When soils are wet, your goal is not to “get through it”. Your goal is to protect the pasture base that feeds you for the rest of the year.
If you only take one thing from this:
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Decide your “get off” rule now,
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Use stand-off or on-off grazing early,
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Then manage recovery deliberately so the same paddocks do not keep slipping backwards.
- The Dedicated Team of Pasture.io, 2025-11-20