Weighing replacements: I was with a group this week as we looked at his spring-born calves. The bottom line is we can talk and comment all we like about good, bad, and healthy calves but the weights don’t lie. The best farmers will weigh calves every two to three months and build up a track record of weights. Remember it’s not the average weight of animals that is important but the number below target and more importantly again what you are going to do about getting them on target. Depending on the size of the group, light calves at this time of the year might need to be separated and managed separately. In terms of weighing scales there are a number of suppliers. Get one and use it.

Fly control: The warm weather has brought out plenty of flies over the last few weeks. Fewer flies around stock will help reduce infection and potential mastitis. Hygiene is critical so keep yards clean and remove dung heaps, Keep cow tails clipped and tidy. Teat spraying after milking is essential.

Feed prices: If barley is trading at €130 per tonne off the combine theoretically it should be trading around €170 to €175 per tonne when dried. This will be value for Some feeds

I touched off it last week but in the last week four weeks feed has become much more expensive. This week in the news pages we carry a nationwide survey. The results show dairy farmers are paying from €250/t right up to €330/t for dairy rations at the moment. The best prices are obtained when buying in bulk and purchasing groups. However as advised last week price is one thing but quality is another and if you are paying a low price for poor ingredients then really it is a lot more expensive. See some of the high-energy feeds and some of the high-protein feeds as measured by PDIE, not CP% in table. You can see the better protein sources are Soyabean meal (252 for PDIE), Rapeseed meal (151 for PDIE) and Brewers (189 for PDIE).

All the above on feed prices mean forage is more valuable this year and that you need to be careful as we move on in the year on herd body condition score. There is little you can do about the quality or quantity of first cut silage now but you can manage stock numbers and milking cows. What I mean is you can pick out cull cows earlier than normal, you can dry off first calved heifers earlier and you can manage a lower stocking rate by keeping young stock off milking block etc in autumn.