Paperwork: It might seem like a simple job, but now is the time to get your grass map and measuring equipment set up for 2015. For those farmers not set up on Agrinet, Kingswood, Pasturebase, or any other grass management software program, you better get this job done now before work gets busy. Any of these programs will allow you input your grass covers and help with decision-making. I know many farmers who don’t put exact figures on grass measurement and I agree that it does take time to get your head around managing grass properly. However, I know so many farmers who started out with no information, but now won’t make any decision without walking paddocks every Monday morning and inputting results to get their cover per cow figures or grass wedge.

Dairy Know-How column: The Dairy Know-How column runs every second week and is aimed specifically at new entrants to dairy farming and those looking to get the latest advice. This week, we look at feeding the newborn calf and managing young calves. Every farm has its own tricks, but good management at this stage is crucial to later success and time spent with newborn calves can save a lot of time later in the animal’s life. If a freshly calved heifer has no biestings or it looks poor-quality, you might be better to collect the first milking from a mature cow in the herd. It’s this first milking that has proper biestings.

While a freshly calved cow might look like she has biestings for a couple of days, it’s only seconds compared with the first milking, so don’t class all biestings the same. Have the first milking from a cow very clearly labelled in a container and all other biestings can then be collected together. Biestings or colostrum will hold much better in a fridge, so if you have an old fridge you can plug into the dairy or a room near the bulk tank for a few weeks to maximise quality. Freeze surplus first-milking biestings in small packages (two litres and less) to allow it to defrost quickly when it’s needed. Defrosting in boiling water will kill the good bugs in biestings – defrost at 50ºC or less.

Dairy Meetings next week: Before Christmas, I invited Monaghan farmer Olin Greenan, who is share-farming in New Zealand over to Ireland for meetings at the end of January. He gratefully accepted the invitation to come over and discuss how New Zealand farmers are dealing with low milk prices at the moment. They are producing milk for the equivalent of 20c/litre and have plenty of different ownership structures compared with Ireland, so the discussion should be interesting to say the least. The meetings are on next week at four locations nationwide and each meeting will run for just over two hours. If you can make time, drop in and hear what Olin and other leaders/industry experts have to say about managing low output prices in 2015.

• Corrin Mart, Fermoy, Cork – 26 January, 11a

• NewPark Hotel, Kilkenny, – 26 January, 7.30p

• Slieve Russell Hotel, Ballyconnell, Cavan – 27 January, 11am.

• Breaffy House Hotel, Castlebar, Mayo – 27 January, 7.30pm.