Rain

While rain was welcomed on Sunday, only 10mm fell and with soil moisture deficits now heading towards 80mm, a lot more rain will be needed before growth returns to normal levels. July is statistically one of the driest months of the year, so the chances of getting a lot more rain before August is slim.

Growth is holding well on heavier paddocks again this week, with the average growth over the past seven days at 38kg DM/ha. Drier paddocks have grown zero over the past seven days. Average farm cover is still very low at 390kg DM/ha, with farm demand running at 19kg DM/ha.

After-grass is being allocated to lambs.

No fertiliser has been spread on the farm for the last five weeks. Once we get any amount of rain forecast, one bag of 18:6:12/acre will be spread across a large proportion of the farm. It’s going to be a challenge to build grass covers in August and September, along with taking out surplus silage. Silage continues to be fed at the rate of five bales/day, along with 500kg of concentrates to both store cattle and calves, costing the farm over €1,500/week.

Silage

The farm needs to make another 600t of silage for winter 2018. Thirty-five acres of second-cut will be cut in a few weeks’ time and hopefully surplus bales can be removed in August or September.

Farm manager Shaun Diver is currently trying to source some hay and straw as an insurance policy and has been quoted prices of €35/bale for 4x4 hay and €30/bale for 4x4 straw. Straw is very expensive and alternatives will be looked at, including peat.

Scanning

The first pregnancy scan took place on Monday 16 July, with good results. The breeding season started on Wednesday 25 April for heifers and Tuesday 1 May for cows. So, after six weeks of breeding, there are 65 out of 85 (76%) cows in calf and 10 out of 15 heifers in calf (66%).

On a herd basis, 75% of the herd will calve in the first six weeks of the calving period in 2019, all to AI bulls.

Drier paddocks remain under severe pressure in terms of soil moisture deficit.

There was one pregnancy which was at high risk of being lost that wasn’t included in the figures. There was also one cow scanned which is unlikely to go back in calf. The target is 80%, so it’s just shy of the target.

Stock bulls were removed from the herd this week and cows will be scanned at the end of August to determine the empty rate of the herd. The Aberdeen Angus bull suffered a prolapse in his penal area when serving a cow last week and, on veterinary advice, will be culled.

Pneumonia

A Limousin-cross calf was lost last week to pneumonia. The calf was spotted and treated by both farm staff and the vet. However, he failed to respond to antibiotics. The calf was sent to Athlone for post-mortem and came back positive for mycoplasma bovis. Unfortunately, there is no vaccination for this strain of pneumonia and the only preventative measure is to make sure calves receive the best possible start in life to maximise immunity.