Feed, health and the future all discussed in Kerry

As farmers batten down the hatches for winter 2019, feeding and health are the two most important aspects to get right over the next few months. Get them wrong and you could be faced with higher feed and animal disease costs to put them right again.

It’s been a good year in terms of fodder stocks and initial silage testing that has taken place is pointing to good-quality forage on many farms.

Matthew Halpin spoke in Gortalea Mart about the importance of testing your silage to see how much meal you need to feed to weanings to sustain growth rates of 0.7kg/day over the winter.

Animal health got the most questions on the night, from fluke to worms to vaccinations. This work is all being planned and is taking place at the moment on farms. Tommy Heffernan went through some plans.

You don’t need to go for fancy rations when feeding cattle this winter. A three-way mix of barley, soya hulls and beet pulp will tick a lot of boxes on a lot of beef farms and will be cheaper than some of the commercially available rations

– Matthew Halpin, Irish Farmers Journal

We are seeing a bit of a swing back to the Belgian Blue this autumn. Numbers being exported might be small but the rewards are big for the right type of calves

– John Lynch, Dovea Genetics

The suckler cow needs support. Our farmers in Kerry depend on payments to keep going. There is no point in talking about other farm enterprises down here. The suckler cow is the only animal that will live on a lot of rough ground around here

– Maurice Brosnan, manager, Gortatlea Mart

I think China will be a game-changer. We have all seen the huge pig cull that is happening out there. As 1bn consumers shift to alternatives such as beef, we should be in a position to capitalise on this. I know processors are hopeful of getting beef there by Christmas. It’s important that this positive is returned to the farmer

– Adam Woods, beef editor, Irish Farmers Journal

I’m getting really worried about antibiotics. We need to be careful and prudent around their use. We may not have a lot of our common antibiotics available to us in years to come and it’s important that we are able to cope without them. It’s as important for human health as it is for animal health

– Tommy Heffernan, Irish Farmers Journal

Can you dose for rumen fluke and liver fluke at the same time?

Yes, you just need to be mindful of what stage you are dosing for.

What stage of fluke does the damage to the animal?

It’s the immature flukes swimming through the liver that do the most damage.

If you allow fluke to develop to the adult stage for dosing, is there damage being done in the meantime?

It depends how much fluke is present on your farm. Every farm is different and you need to talk to your own vet for advice specific to your farm.

Can an animal have all three stages of fluke?

Yes, but it depends on the time of year. August is a high-risk period. In a wet year, you could have adults a lot earlier.

When you are buying weanlings, are you better with a live or dead vaccine?

You need to get immunity up, so my preference is for a live vaccine for the first risk period of three months. They could get a dead vaccine later on to give longer cover.

Do six-week-old calves need a dose?

They should be very low risk but the best thing to do is take a pooled dung sample and get it analysed for worms. If no eggs are present, they don’t need a dose.

Do young, autumn-born calves need a dose for coccidiosis?

If the herd has never had coccidiosis, they are low risk. If it has been an issue on the farm, the best thing to do is dose before they go into the shed.

Over 50 farmers received health checks as part of the health screening that took place at Gortatlea Mart on Tuesday night. The health checks which are being provided by the Irish Farmers Journal, in association with Croí, are designed to help farmers look after their health.

Farmers receive a card with their recorded blood pressure and pulse along with some life advice around diet and exercise. Irish Country Living editor Amii McKeever said: “It’s a completely non-invasive process in a mart setting that farmers are familiar with. Farmers, especially men, can stick their heads in the sand when it comes to health issues and think they will go away.

"This process will identify if there is any concern and then give them the advice on how to deal with it. If we get one or two people acting on the advice, then the night is a success.”

Livestock demo

Local farmer Michael Reynolds provided excellent outfits for the night. Michael farms 50 suckler cows just up the road from Gortatlea. His system is to run a red Limousin cow bred to top Belgian Blue bulls.

Selling weanlings in Gortalea, he regularly hits €3/kg for male weanlings. John Lynch, of Dovea Genetics, said he sees a shift towards quality in weanling systems.

“Farmers are seeing the difference in the mart between the very good weanling and the average weanling. It was never more evident than this year.

"A lot of guys breeding top-quality weanlings are doing well and sticking with the system.