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In his mid-20s, Micheal is in the process of assuming full control of the 60ha farm from his father John.
He has already made big changes, moving from a split pattern to calving the 90-strong herd in nine weeks from early July. Michael aims to sell a 400kg weanling for €1,000 in early summer. The choice of early autumn calving takes the pressure off spring grass and gives him time to get weight on the calves. The tightness of the spread facilitates his off-farm work – Michael works on a neighbouring dairy farm, as well as running a small scanning service.
Meet Michael McDonald
Scanning results
“The herd scanned OK – we had 11.4% empty out of 92 – eight cows and four heifers. Cows were 100% AI-bred and the heifers got seven weeks with an Aubrac bull. I had the cows on silage only and I was disappointed when it tested 68% DMD. It was cut on 23 May and I could visibly see the cows filling up on it when they came in last winter. I reckon, as a whole, the DMD was well into the 70s – maybe it was an issue with that particular sample. Of the eight empty cows, none were in poor condition visibly,” Michael told me.
An update from Michael’s farm last autumn during calving
Bull for spring
Michael’s original plan was to breed any animals that slipped out of his autumn herd back into a spring-cycle, selling them pregnant in the back-end.
“I’ll breed the four heifers alright but I’m not too pushed on the cows. To be honest, none of them are very flashy and I’m not that disappointed to lose them. I’d rather stay at the nine weeks and not have them in the herd than go to 12 weeks and have them – it’s too long a calving season for what I’m trying to do. I’ll wean them, let them flesh up and sell live in May,” he said.
Calf weight gains
Michael’s bull calves are gaining 1.11kg daily (218kg) and heifers are doing 1.07kg (194kg). Average cow weight was 576kg (including first-calvers) on 15 January, giving him a projected 200-day weaning efficiency figure of 45%. This is right where suckler farmers should be aiming. Given Michael’s proficiency in breeding, there is no reason why he can’t push 50% in the coming years.
“The bull calves were split away after that weighing and I pushed up creep feeding to 1.7kg daily. Heifers are on 1.3kg. They’ve been let in to suck once daily since Christmas,” Michael told me.
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