With breeding getting into full swing, the first thing needed is to assess the breeding statistics for your farm.

When creating the three-year plan for each of the participants in the programme, the key breeding data – calving interval, calves per cow per year and mortality – is addressed.

Once the average calving interval is analysed, the next step is to look down through the figures on a cow by cow basis to identify cows with a prolonged calving interval. The worst offenders should be earmarked for culling. Bringing late-calving cows forward to the autumn herd should be avoided as the cow is running empty for several months, and it does not address the underlying problem of poor fertility.

Raising the number of calves produced per cow per year will undoubtedly have a huge impact on farm profitability. A 50-cow herd producing the national average of 0.79 calves per cow per year will have just 40 calves to sell, eight short of the target for that herd. At an average weanling value of €800, this amounts to €4,000 in lost output. Ensuring that the herd is productive will help to maximise output.

Mortality can be variable from farm to farm, but management and health practices should be in place to avoid high mortality levels.

Compact calving

Compact calving will also have a large impact on output, costs and management of the herd. The farmers in the programme have all moved towards compact calving, with most calving a spring or autumn herd in a 12-week period.

In some cases, the farmers have limited this to 10 weeks. As a result of this, the farmers have a more even group of calves to sell, average weights at weaning have increased and it has focused the workload. Moving towards compact calving was carried out over a few years and in some cases was dependent on the number of replacement heifers brought in and culls removed.

The theory is simple – the dates for the start and end of breeding are outlined, and then moved tighter each year to bring breeding back to a 12-week period.

Where the caving spread is very drawn out, it may take several years to attain a 12-week calving period without excessive culling. In most cases, it will take two to three years to achieve the target.

Heat detection

To obtain high pregnancy rates, attaining good levels of heat detection is crucial. Heat detection in spring-calving herds should be much easier than autumn-calving herds as most of the breeding will take place outdoors where cows will exhibit signs of oestrus more clearly.

Where stock bulls are used, farmers in the programme continue to observe cows in heat to ensure they are being served correctly. In addition, the date and cow served are recorded in most cases to highlight repeats and bull fertility issues three weeks after bulling.

In large herds where more than one stock bull is present, farmers may swap bulls over about halfway through the breeding season. This will be done as a precaution against a bull becoming in-fertile or sub-fertile at any stage in the breeding season.

In some cases, farmers will use AI on part of the herd – this is predominantly maternal AI bulls used on maternal (milky) cows to produce replacement heifers.

Some farmers in the programme use scratch pads and vasectomised bulls with chin balls attached to identify cows in heat. These are used along with normal observations at 7am, 5pm and 9pm; these are times when most cows will exhibit signs of oestrus.