Final preparations are being put in place this week ahead of the start to calving next week. The first cow was artificially inseminated on 27 April, meaning an 8 February due date, on a 286 day gestation.
Calving pens have been cleaned and washed and farm manager Shaun Diver has stocked up on supplies like, gloves, calving lube, ropes, an infra-red bulb, frozen colostrum and other essentials.
The colostrum has been sourced from a local dairy farm, where we know the Johnes status.
Help
Brendan Doyle, a student in Mountbellew agricultural college started his 12 week placement on Tullamore Farm this week and will be a welcome aid ahead of the busy calving and lambing period.
Slurry
Slurry went out two weeks ago via a trailing shoe and so far no fertiliser has been spread. Twenty-three units of urea/acre will be spread on fields that didn’t get any slurry previously.
There was also a slurry analysis done on the farm. Samples were taken from two sheds, one from a dry cow shed where cows are being fed an ad-lib silage diet and the other a shed where animals were on a finishing diet of meal and silage.
Samples were taken when tanks were being agitated to get a representative sample.
Not surprisingly, the shed where the animals were being fed a concentrate and silage diet had the higher nutrient value.
When you calculate the amount of money that’s in a slurry tank, it’s a valuable resource and should be used to get the maximum benefit out of it. P and K are the most expensive parts of artificial fertilisers and most farmers have an abundant supply in their slatted tanks. The nutrient vale of this slurry can be taken off crop requirements for silage or grazing later in the year. This will allow us reduce our spend on artificial fertilisers.
Heifers and ewes
Heifers are still moving through the redstart, with fence moving being delayed until the afternoon this week due to frosty conditions.
Ewes continue to graze paddocks close to the yard and are being supplemented with silage before they come indoors.
SHARING OPTIONS