The characteristics of progressive farmers, and running a viable farm business into the future, were among the main themes explored by speakers at the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU) agricultural conference last Saturday.
Delegates at the event in Cookstown were also told to record data, set targets, benchmark farm performance against previous years and against other businesses, and focus on farm profitability, not output.
“No one can be an expert on everything so it is important to get external advice, particularly when you see the range of issues a farmer has to deal with in their business. Discussion groups can also be an effective tool for improving farm performance,” advised Dr Jonathan Birnie from Dunbia.
Sheep sector
Castlederg sheep farmer Isaac Crilly gave a critical analysis of the NI sheep sector in his presentation and told YFCU members that a change of mindset is required.
He questioned why many pedigree breeders do not performance record their flock to produce estimated breeding values (EBVs) and why many commercial farmers still buy sheep based solely on what they look like.
“There are plenty of farmers still breeding the same type of sheep their grandfathers did. Where would the dairy, poultry or pig sectors be now if they hadn’t changed over time?” he asked.
Crilly changed his farming system around 15 years ago from breeding well-conformed lambs from continental sheep to maximising lambs sold per ewe and increasing stocking rates from composite bred sheep selected on performance-recorded data.
During his presentation, he urged farmers to look at findings of scientific research when making decisions and also pointed out the importance of talking to vets to create a flock health plan.
“We need to get involved with processors and retailers to understand what the consumer wants and then produce it. For too long, farmers have had a ‘them against us’ mind-set,” Crilly added.
Growing more grass to cut costs
Increasing the amount of good quality grass grown on dairy, beef and sheep farms allows farmers to reduce feed costs or increase stocking rates, grassland consultant Gareth Davies said at the YFCU conference in Cookstown.
Davies said that a recent focus of his work has been improving grassland management on beef and sheep farms, primarily through rotational grazing.
The Welshman recommended that sheep graze covers between the second and third leaf stage to reduce potential issues with scald. “In simple terms, sheep should go in when grass is the height of a Coke can and come out when it is the height of a golf ball,” he suggested.
He also warned farmers not to let sheep graze grass too tight. “The bit they leave behind drives the entire system. However, with cattle, you can often get it wrong by leaving too much in the paddock.”
Davies recommended that farmers measure grass and have pre-grazing covers of 2,200kg dry matter per hectare (DM/ha) and 2,800kg DM/ha for sheep and cattle respectively. Post-grazing residuals should be 1,400kg DM/ha for sheep and 1,500kg DM/ha for cattle.
If topping grass, Davies maintained that it should not be a “cosmetic exercise” but should be used to clean out residual covers.
He believes that many toppers do not cut grass cleanly or low enough.
Factors such as nutrition or genetics alone can sometimes be overpromised to farmers looking to improve dairy herd fertility, Professor Finbar Mulligan from UCD told delegates on Saturday.
“There is no silver bullet to improving dairy herd fertility. Management, genetics, nutrition and levels of lameness and disease in the herd all need to be moving in the right direction for it to improve,” he said.
Mulligan maintained that farmers need to record more data and set targets for fertility. For a high-yielding herd, he suggested targets of 61 to 75 days to first service, conception rates of over 57%, over 75% of cows in calf by 100 days and less than 6% not-in-calf by 200 days.
For seasonal calving herds, Mulligan said targets were different and that a 365-day calving interval, 90% of cows in-calf by six weeks, conception rates of 65% and less than 5% empty were all achievable.
Body condition scoring (BCS) of cows was highlighted by Mulligan as an important management tool but he questioned why some farmers score cows but then fail to use it to address issues.
He quoted results from an AgriSearch study, which showed that first-service conception rates for thin cows (BCS less than 2.25) fed concentrates and forage for eight weeks in the dry period was 43.2%, compared with 25.5% when the same cows are offered forage only diets.
For Holstein Friesian cows, he said that BCS should remain reasonably consistent with condition score peaking at 3 to 3.25 at calving and moving to around 2.75 after 42 days in-milk and throughout lactation.
“Cows have a poor appetite after calving anyway, so don’t put them in a shed or feed a ration that could reduce this further. Cows need to be fed to their energy requirement and underfeeding leads to fertility problems,” he said.
Genetics
He also maintained that more NI dairy farmers need to benchmark their herd’s £PLI fertility sub-index against the within breed ranking of UK dairy farms, which is available on the AHDB website.
On crossbreeding, Mulligan said that research has proven that hybrid vigour resulting from crossbreeding brings improved fertility performance.
However, the benefit of crossbreeding only continued after the first cross if sires are selected for further genetic progress.
Management
On heat detection, Mulligan pointed out that it is recommended to have four 30-minute sessions observing heats each day, and that most cows come on heat during the night.
He acknowledged that this level of heat observation is time-consuming, particularly in all year-round calving herds, and suggested the use of technologies such as activity monitors to help catch heats accurately.
When it comes to getting cows pregnant, the performance of the person carrying out the artificial insemination can affect conception rates. He also recommended using a vet before breeding to examine cows with health issues, such as a retained placenta.
Listen to an interview with YFCU president Roberta Simmons in our podcast below:
Listen to "YFCU president Roberta Simmons" on Spreaker.
The characteristics of progressive farmers, and running a viable farm business into the future, were among the main themes explored by speakers at the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU) agricultural conference last Saturday.
Delegates at the event in Cookstown were also told to record data, set targets, benchmark farm performance against previous years and against other businesses, and focus on farm profitability, not output.
“No one can be an expert on everything so it is important to get external advice, particularly when you see the range of issues a farmer has to deal with in their business. Discussion groups can also be an effective tool for improving farm performance,” advised Dr Jonathan Birnie from Dunbia.
Sheep sector
Castlederg sheep farmer Isaac Crilly gave a critical analysis of the NI sheep sector in his presentation and told YFCU members that a change of mindset is required.
He questioned why many pedigree breeders do not performance record their flock to produce estimated breeding values (EBVs) and why many commercial farmers still buy sheep based solely on what they look like.
“There are plenty of farmers still breeding the same type of sheep their grandfathers did. Where would the dairy, poultry or pig sectors be now if they hadn’t changed over time?” he asked.
Crilly changed his farming system around 15 years ago from breeding well-conformed lambs from continental sheep to maximising lambs sold per ewe and increasing stocking rates from composite bred sheep selected on performance-recorded data.
During his presentation, he urged farmers to look at findings of scientific research when making decisions and also pointed out the importance of talking to vets to create a flock health plan.
“We need to get involved with processors and retailers to understand what the consumer wants and then produce it. For too long, farmers have had a ‘them against us’ mind-set,” Crilly added.
Growing more grass to cut costs
Increasing the amount of good quality grass grown on dairy, beef and sheep farms allows farmers to reduce feed costs or increase stocking rates, grassland consultant Gareth Davies said at the YFCU conference in Cookstown.
Davies said that a recent focus of his work has been improving grassland management on beef and sheep farms, primarily through rotational grazing.
The Welshman recommended that sheep graze covers between the second and third leaf stage to reduce potential issues with scald. “In simple terms, sheep should go in when grass is the height of a Coke can and come out when it is the height of a golf ball,” he suggested.
He also warned farmers not to let sheep graze grass too tight. “The bit they leave behind drives the entire system. However, with cattle, you can often get it wrong by leaving too much in the paddock.”
Davies recommended that farmers measure grass and have pre-grazing covers of 2,200kg dry matter per hectare (DM/ha) and 2,800kg DM/ha for sheep and cattle respectively. Post-grazing residuals should be 1,400kg DM/ha for sheep and 1,500kg DM/ha for cattle.
If topping grass, Davies maintained that it should not be a “cosmetic exercise” but should be used to clean out residual covers.
He believes that many toppers do not cut grass cleanly or low enough.
Factors such as nutrition or genetics alone can sometimes be overpromised to farmers looking to improve dairy herd fertility, Professor Finbar Mulligan from UCD told delegates on Saturday.
“There is no silver bullet to improving dairy herd fertility. Management, genetics, nutrition and levels of lameness and disease in the herd all need to be moving in the right direction for it to improve,” he said.
Mulligan maintained that farmers need to record more data and set targets for fertility. For a high-yielding herd, he suggested targets of 61 to 75 days to first service, conception rates of over 57%, over 75% of cows in calf by 100 days and less than 6% not-in-calf by 200 days.
For seasonal calving herds, Mulligan said targets were different and that a 365-day calving interval, 90% of cows in-calf by six weeks, conception rates of 65% and less than 5% empty were all achievable.
Body condition scoring (BCS) of cows was highlighted by Mulligan as an important management tool but he questioned why some farmers score cows but then fail to use it to address issues.
He quoted results from an AgriSearch study, which showed that first-service conception rates for thin cows (BCS less than 2.25) fed concentrates and forage for eight weeks in the dry period was 43.2%, compared with 25.5% when the same cows are offered forage only diets.
For Holstein Friesian cows, he said that BCS should remain reasonably consistent with condition score peaking at 3 to 3.25 at calving and moving to around 2.75 after 42 days in-milk and throughout lactation.
“Cows have a poor appetite after calving anyway, so don’t put them in a shed or feed a ration that could reduce this further. Cows need to be fed to their energy requirement and underfeeding leads to fertility problems,” he said.
Genetics
He also maintained that more NI dairy farmers need to benchmark their herd’s £PLI fertility sub-index against the within breed ranking of UK dairy farms, which is available on the AHDB website.
On crossbreeding, Mulligan said that research has proven that hybrid vigour resulting from crossbreeding brings improved fertility performance.
However, the benefit of crossbreeding only continued after the first cross if sires are selected for further genetic progress.
Management
On heat detection, Mulligan pointed out that it is recommended to have four 30-minute sessions observing heats each day, and that most cows come on heat during the night.
He acknowledged that this level of heat observation is time-consuming, particularly in all year-round calving herds, and suggested the use of technologies such as activity monitors to help catch heats accurately.
When it comes to getting cows pregnant, the performance of the person carrying out the artificial insemination can affect conception rates. He also recommended using a vet before breeding to examine cows with health issues, such as a retained placenta.
Listen to an interview with YFCU president Roberta Simmons in our podcast below:
Listen to "YFCU president Roberta Simmons" on Spreaker.
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