Last Friday I attended the Nuffield Ireland autumn conference. The event proved enjoyable and I got to meet lots of interesting people. For me, it was a real eye opener to hear from speakers who were not necessarily from an agricultural background give presentations that were still relevant to me as a farmer and to the overall role of farming in society.

There was a great line-up of speakers, including three of the 2012 scholars who presented their respective papers, a task that I’ll be facing in two years’ time! However, the highlight of the day for me was the former governor of Mountjoy jail, John Lonergan. He spoke passionately about the need for leadership in the community which is topical at the moment in rural Ireland as many communities come to terms with emigration and the loss of key services, including post offices, banks and Garda stations.

Back at home, ground conditions have deteriorated due to the heavy rain last week after what could only be described as a fantastic back end for farming.

The last of the cows were housed at the weekend which is a full month later than last year. Unsurprisingly, they are also in much better condition this time round. They have been penned in the shed according to condition score and calving date.

The first cows are due to calve in December — they are getting the worst of the silage and 100g per day of pre-calver minerals dusted on the silage. I have been feeding minerals this way for years and I find it the cheapest and most effective way of ensuring that each cow gets the right amount. I know some farmers who don’t bother with it and get away, but at a cost of around €4 per cow in the run up to calving, I reckon it is money well spent if it results in a healthy cow with a lively calf on the ground.

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All the weanlings were out until last weekend when I decided to house the forward bulls as they were beginning to get restless outside during wet weather and were starting to waste grass. They were getting 4kg/head/day of ration before housing.

The plan is to slowly build the level of meal up once they have settled in the shed. They are also getting 72 DMD bale silage ad lib and have access to straw.

Once built up to ad lib meal, the silage will be removed — this should take about three to four weeks. I also intend to weigh them this week to keep an eye on their performance.

I estimate that they are approximately 460kg at the moment. The eldest are just gone 11 months and the plan is to finish them under 16 months.

The heifers and the lighter bull weanlings are still out at grass. Weather depending, there is at least three to four weeks of grass still ahead of them. Utilisation of the grass that’s left is still good. The heifers are getting 1kg/day of ration while the bulls are getting 2kg to 2.5kg.

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parasite control

Now that cattle have been housed, it is time to get parasite control sorted for the winter. Everything that’s housed has been treated for lice as they went in. I haven’t made up my mind what fluke treatment to use yet.

Depending on the product, I’ll have to wait a couple of weeks to allow fluke present to reach the required maturity for the product to be most effective. I’ll treat the housed bulls for worms as they are weighed. All cattle still out were treated for fluke and worms recently which should cover them until housing.

At least there are no obvious signs of rumen fluke this year which is a relief. The good weather must have helped in this regard but I might take a few samples just in case. After seeing what damage rumen fluke are capable of doing to affected animals, I am taking no chances.