In the last two weeks, we’ve seen a real touch of autumn come into the North Louth air. The rain that we were waiting for all of September to help build our grass covers has arrived and the greening up of the fields is plain to see.

Hopefully it’s not too late for the paddocks as the days are getting shorter and the nights are colder. Conditions thankfully, are still ideal for grazing.

Weaning

We weaned our cows on 6 October. Bulls had been getting 1kg of meal and a 16% Protein weaning nut for three weeks, while the same meal was introduced to heifers upon weaning. Weaning has gone really well with little or no issues, thank God.

All calves were weighed by Declan, our ICBF man on 8 october with bulls averaging 1.5kgs ADG and Heifers 1.25kgs ADG. Weights were well up on 2013, with Bulls a full 50kgs each heavier than last year so I’m delighted. It just shows how important a good spring is.

Grouping calves

Since weaning, I’ve grouped my calves into different batches. My six best bulls are on top grazing and 2kgs of meal with a view to selling them in mid-November at approximately 450kgs. The rest of the bull calves I’ll keep for the winter along with all the heifer calves.

They’re grazing aftergrass and if the weather stays civil, they should be out until the end of November. Cows are cleaning up paddocks around the yard which are then being closed in readiness for early grazing next spring.