The favourable weather conditions that were experienced across the country last autumn and early winter meant cows were in good body condition going into the breeding season.

It also meant that with plentiful grass supplies, cows were quick to come back in heat and conception rates to first and second service were initially high, according to scanning results.

This has carried through into autumn calving on the programme farms this month. Farmers and advisers are reporting that autumn calving is progressing relatively trouble-free, with some herds having over 50% of cows calved down in the first few weeks of the calving period.

Autumn cows are being calved outdoors on paddocks adjoining the main farmyard where they can be closely supervised or housed a few days prior to the predicted calving date and turned out within hours of calving.

This has greatly reduced the risk of disease, which inevitably reduces calf mortality. In most instances, the programme farmers are offering hay or rough grazing/forage and minerals pre-calving to dry cows.

After calving, cows are being moved to high-quality grass that has been saved specifically for autumn cows. Some of this saved ground is silage aftermath that has now joined the grazing rotation.

Due to the grass quality, most cows are not being supplemented with meals after calving.

With herds already having good numbers of cows calved, this is making it easier to batch cows for grazing as bigger group numbers are easier managed in paddocks and to match grass supplies to.

Worming

Spring calves are being wormed and receiving the first shot of pneumonia vaccine. Faecal egg counts are being taken in some cases to determine the worm burden before any product is used.

While calves may not be showing visual signs of a worm burden, there is a large enough presence in dung samples to merit treatment ahead of the weaning period next month.

After a prolonged dry spell in July and frequent rainfall in August, there is a risk of lung worms becoming a problem in calves as the rainfall will cause worm populations to hatch and multiply rapidly.

Lungworms were a problem for some of the programme farms last year and the emphasis is firmly on prevention this autumn.

  • Autumn calving is progressing smoothly for the programme farms with some farms being able to calve outdoors, while on others, cows are being housed for a short time period and returned to bare pasture post calving.
  • Good weather during the breeding season last year has led to high numbers of cows calving in the first cycle.
  • Silage aftermath and good quality grass swards have been saved for grazing calved autumn cows to reduce the requirement for meal supplementation.
  • Cows are mainly getting minerals through lick buckets to prevent problems such as Tetany.
  • Calves are being wormed and vaccinated ahead of the high stress weaning period next month.
  • Calculate silage stocks in store to see if you have sufficient fodder in store for this coming winter. An online fodder calculator can be viewed for free at the following web address: www.farmersjournal.ie/toolbox/fodder