The finish line is in sight. Over the weekend, our ‘still to calve’ figure hit single digits. There are nine to go, with the last due on 5 May.

In 2015 we succeeded in tightening the calving spread to just over eight weeks. But, the challenge now is to try and pull back the average calving date by two weeks. Letting it slip further into the summer would be less than ideal. Calving date can vary, but weaning date stays relatively constant.

Pushing calving back towards the beginning of the year will give rise to older and thus heavier weanlings. In terms of a calf’s lifetime growth, the kilos gained whilst on the cow at pasture are by far the cheapest.

In terms of sire selection, more mature cows will continue to be bred to Charolias and Simmental bulls like LGL and APZ, both the top sires within their breeds. Our final calvers this year were bred to STQ, an easy calving Belgian Blue, with a view to tightening up the spread. His first calf came yesterday and needed no assistance.

This year’s heifer group were all bred to either easy-calving Limousin bulls like HCA and OZS, or the Simmental APZ. Two needed assistance and both were easy pulls. Breeding for 2016 will commence in just under three weeks.

Out first-time calvers are receiving roughly two kilos of a magnesium nut at pasture. These animals are under more metabolic stress than the established cows; hence, some special treatment is required. Supplementation is offered to speed up the onset of heat, whilst preventing grass tetany. The more established ladies will make-do with mineral blocks to keep the disease at bay.

Saturday Night Show

My comments on the Saturday Night Show were not a ‘swipe’ at those marketing Irish produce internationally. I was merely stating that increasing agricultural output is only viable if there are destinations for our wares. Those with the opinion that the increasing global population could take up the slack, need to look at where these population explosions are occurring. In countries like China, an income of less than $20 a day can earn someone a ‘middle class’ label (according to Forbes.com).

Fifth quarter beef is king here