It has been a tough spring in Courtmacsherry. I had delayed my calving start date to February and closed the first paddocks in early October, so that the spring calvers could go straight to grass. I had urea ready in the yard in mid-January.
Weather, of course, decided to write its own script.
At times, I thought the autumn-grazing plan would have been more appropriate than the spring rotation planner. I skipped heavy covers to hit 30% grazed by the end of February. I struggled with the conditions, but got close to 65% cleaned out by St Patrick’s Day. There was very little damage done through on-off grazing and backfencing, although it was nearly impossible to spread slurry as any marks just filled up with water.
The sun was shining that morning, so they went daft roaring to get out
Under normal circumstances, my next target would be to finish the first round on the milking platform by 28 March. I quickly realised this was not an option with a combination of lack of regrowths and no improvement in the weather. I divided the remaining paddocks to stretch the first round until 8 April. I could see that the herd was suffering loss of condition and yields. I was planning to put the lighter first calvers on OAD milking.
Crunch time hit on the first weekend in April. Saturday was another deluge. I milked the cows on Sunday morning and left them back into the cubicles. The sun was shining that morning, so they went daft roaring to get out. I headed to check my light stock on an outside farm to discover a ploughed field, so I rehoused them too.
Back home again, I was facing another delayed evening milking with the full winter feeding regime workload. I decided to skip milking until Monday morning. Thirteen-times-a-week-milking works well later in the year, so it was worth the gamble. It was then I made a few calls to get opinion on a more dramatic course of action. I was given warnings about pitfalls, but nobody tried to talk me out of it. The whole herd was put on once-a-day (OAD) milking.
Weather increased workload
I knew the top yielders would drop, cell count was at 112, but that would rise. All I knew was that there was an energy deficit in the herd and, at current milk prices, a temporary drop in yield was cheaper and more effective than extra concentrates. I could also see uncompleted jobs due to the weather-increased workload, so dropping the evening milking would allow freedom.
I specifically ignored the milk collection dockets – I had enough worries.
Three weeks on and I can see a visible improvement in condition and locomotion. I have a much better handle on jobs too. The youngstock have finally gone to summer grazing, cows are on a 22-day rotation, buffer feeding is reducing and I can see udders full again. I’m ready to return to twice-a-day milking, though I’ll mark a few thin ones to keep on OAD until after breeding.
I will look back when I have time to see how the figures were affected. My one regret is not going OAD sooner.
Farmer writes: flooded again and the worry of Brexit
Farmer writes: Fatigue sets in despite the shortened lambing season
SHARING OPTIONS