Parasite control: housing generally brings with it a bit of an NCT when it comes to animal health. Cattle are clipped, dosed and pour-ons applied, but it’s important that these are done in the correct way to ensure efficacy and reduce the risk of resistance to products.

Adult cattle (above two years) should have resistance to worms built up, so use of a wormer combined with a fluke drench is generally not recommended unless a worm burden in cows has been identified. Instead, stand alone flukicides should be used.

Caution needs to be taken with regard to follow up dosing, as many doses only kill the adult and the immature fluke, which can result in damage being done to an animal’s liver where a second dose is not administered in the housing period. More information on flukicides can be found in our Winter Indoor Management focus.

With regard to lice, they can be controlled with pour-on insecticides or injectables, with pour-ons generally recommended for both sucking and biting lice, with injectibles less effective against biting lice.

It’s crucial to read and follow product labels, apply treatments correctly (such as clipping the hair along the spine for pour-ons), and treat the entire herd at the same time. Repeat treatment may be necessary after two to three weeks to kill lice that have hatched from eggs since the initial application.

SCEP: the 31 October deadline is fast approaching for four- and five-star females within SCEP herds. Applicants are required to ensure that by this date at least 65% of their yearly reference number are eligible females that are genotyped four or five stars on the replacement index (on a within or across breed basis), at the time of purchase (for replacements brought into the herd) or at the time of genotyping (for those replacements bred within the herd). Females must be at least 16 months old by this date in order to be eligible to be included in this target.

Several sales of SCEP eligible heifers are ongoing within marts, with Tullamore Farm having several eligible heifers on offer at Roscrea Mart on Wednesday 29 October. A catalogue can be obtained from farm manager Shaun Diver who can be contacted on 087-217 5486.

Autumn grazing: the last few weeks of grazing are underway on beef farms, with the weather up until recently playing ball. Thankfully, the medium-term outlook is good, which should mean that the majority of farms should see cattle out until the end of the month, be it adult cattle or lighter stock.

With the final few weeks of grazing, covers with high clover content should be targeted to be grazed off to allow light to the base of the sward and allow this clover to tiller out.

It is also the last week to spread any farmyard manure, so this should be targeted for spreading on recently grazed low index paddocks or silage ground. Storing of farmyard manure on hardcore is not permitted over the winter months.