Calendar farming is never a wonderful idea at the best of times. We’ve all seen this in practise with the slurry spreading ban. How often have we rushed to get the tanks emptied before 15 October, when ground conditions were maybe far from ideal, only to see much drier weather arriving after the deadline and maybe extending well in to the winter.

However, we all have dates in our head that we associate with certain jobs. For me one of these dates is the Saturday closest to St Patrick’s Day. Historically this has been the date where I aim to let my yearling heifers out to grass. Obviously, this can vary widely from late-February to early-April depending on weather but that’s the mean date to aim for. I usually cut the meal off them six weeks prior to this date to avail of compensatory growth when they go to grass.

I’m a firm believer in picking a system and sticking to it and not jumping around to try to catch the market

The plan is to get six to eight weeks grazing, put on as much cheap weight gain from grass as possible and sell them in early May when hopefully there are plenty of grass buyers active. It was only a couple of weeks ago, when someone asked me if I had enough of silage to last the winter that I realised how my mindset and thinking has begun to change over the last couple of years. The answer I gave him was “if we get a normal spring I’ll have plenty, but if we’re feeding cattle until June then I won’t!”

There have been cattle housed until June on my farm, twice in the last nine years – 2009 and 2013. I realised that it was nearly the end of February and I still hadn’t cut the meal off my heifers, something I would normally do in much earlier in the month. When I started to think about it, I still didn’t know whether I should stop the meal feeding. Because of the weather we’ve endured for the last two summers, subconsciously I was thinking, "What if I don’t get these cattle to grass before I intend to sell them in early May?” “What if it keeps raining?”

If I cut the meal off them and don’t get them out to grass to avail of the compensatory growth, then when I sell they will be lighter than they should be, meaning less money in my pocket. I also toyed with the idea of keeping feeding and selling them earlier out if the shed, store cattle are a flying trade at the min so maybe that would make good sense. But I’m a firm believer in picking a system and sticking to it and not jumping around to try to catch the market.

Negativity

The point I’m trying to illustrate is how negative and pessimistic I was being without even realising. Unfortunately, I’m far from being on my own, with a lot of farmers feeling the same. However, a very rich man once told me, “Surround yourself with positive thinking people. Negativity will get you nowhere.”

Needless to say, the meal has been cut of the heifers and I’m confident that they will be at grass long before May! I Hope!

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