European farmers looking to return cattle to pasture after a torrid New Year of flooding could do a lot worse than follow the thirty day drying rule.

Colorado extension experts have prescribed the month long hiatus to allow sunlight to dry pasture and minimise the damage flooded grassland can do to cattle and vice versa.

This formed the basis of guidelines sent out to Colorado cattlemen following their late summer deluge last September.

Central and northern Colorado was worst affected with Boulder County receiving three inches of rain in three days.

Like their US counterparts, farmers across tracts of Western Europe, particularly in the UK, have been challenged by the worst floods in living memory and the wettest winter on record.

Colorado cattlemen were urged to be vigilant against a greater disease burden, particularly from Clostridium and spore-borne pathogens like anthrax and leptospirosis.

“The spore bacterium are pulled from the soil and spread out via the flood waters,” warned Michael Fisher, Pueblo County extension director. “As the water recedes, the spores settle on the land and forage.”