Silage has started on both project farms in Co Down this week with ideal weather conditions over the past weekend, allowing both Nigel Corbett and Bill Brown to make good-quality silage at the start of the week.

While another week would have helped yields on both farms, especially on some of Bill’s silage area which had been grazed in February, the sunshine and dry conditions provided a good opportunity to make good-quality forage.

Grazing conditions will become challenging on all project farms as growth rates continue to increase rapidly. With growth moving above 70kg DM/ha, it is advisable to walk the farm twice a week to stay ahead of the growth and avoid stem coming into the grass. The correct grass management decisions made now will pay dividends for the remainder of the season.

All project farms are taking out paddocks as silage once growth exceeds demand.

They are not waiting to tie in with the main silage-cutting on farm or allowing paddocks more time to bulk up. They are getting in early with surplus grass cut and baled to allow the paddock to return to the grazing rotation as soon as possible.

Ideally, stocking rate on the grazing block should be four cows/ha at this stage. This sets a demand for grass at 65-70kg DM/ha/day.

Heifer monitoring

As part of the Dairylink Ireland project, farmers have been equipped with digital weighing scales to allow the recording and monitoring of replacement heifer weights.

The area of heifer rearing and associated cost was identified as a common area across all project farms where financial savings could be made.

Targeting of a 24-month calving period for replacement heifers is generally happening on project farms. However, there is a significant range in heifer-rearing costs across the farms to get heifers to calve at this age, which will be discussed on this page soon.

Dairylink is looking at heifers on each individual project farm, in particular the cash cost incurred for each heifer reared on farm.

This information is compared with the physical on-farm heifer weights to identify potential cost savings at various growth stages on each farm.

Each project farm has been equipped with a weighing scale and a copy of Table 1 with heifer target weights and a weighing schedule for each farm.

Bill Brown, Millisle Co Down

Bill started weighing heifers earlier this month, beginning with the autumn-born calves. The 42 heifers ranged in weight from 155kg to 275kg, with the average for the group coming in at 212kg.

Birth dates for these heifers range from 15 August to 20 October, with 70% of the heifers born in August and September.

On average, these heifers are eight months old and should have a target weight of 240kg liveweight, which is above Bill’s average.

However, given the range in birth dates for the group, we decided to look at each individual heifer. Based on the age of each heifer, the weights are generally on target.

Out of the 42 heifers, 10 have been identified below target.

They will be grouped separately and kept on good-quality grass with 1kg concentrate fed daily.

The remainder of this group of heifers will continue on grass and be weighed again at 12 months of age, which will be August this year.

Heifer-rearing costs on this farm have been earmarked to be reduced by £9,000 this year, with the key cuts from concentrate feeding and forage costs used to rear these heifers on farm.

Generally, heifers are on target, with a one-month earlier turn-out date and better grazing management resulting in reduced concentrate feeding and less silage required.

Bill is using the weighing of heifers as a tool to manage them.

He is intervening early if heifers fall below target by separating below-target animals and supplementing them.

Also, while the grass on the outlying farm where heifers graze needs to be reseeded, phosphorus and potash imbalances have been improved. This has resulted in more grass, which Bill has capitalised on.