Silage Budget

Now is probably the right time to do a silage budget for winter 2023/2024. The spring of 2023 has depleted fodder stocks all across the country with the south being particularly hardest hit.

Completing a budget now will mean you can take action over the coming months to boost supplies.

Use a few quick guidelines: Suckler cows: 1.4 tonnes/month, store cattle: 1.3 tonnes/month and weanlings: 0.7 tonnes/month.

First cut silage will generally yield 7-10 tonnes/acre and second cut will yield 5-7 tonnes/acre.

This will depend heavily on fertiliser application and soil fertility, and with less fertiliser being spread on drystock farms and poor soil fertility you may need to amend the yield predictions.

May is one of the best grass growing months of the year, so it makes sense to close up as much ground as possible for first cut.

Ask yourself if you have enough area closed up for first cut silage. Leave a buffer there for a difficult spring. Cattle have been housed for six months in the northwest at this stage, so it’s important to have extra for the rainy day or rainy month as we just had.

As the saying goes; old hay is like old gold, it generally doesn’t decrease in value.

Worm control

There are always questions about fluke and worm control at turnout. With fluke, if the appropriate product was used during the housing period, there shouldn’t be an issue.

New infection can occur if grazing very wet areas of the farm, and stock should be monitored for any signs of fluke infection. We need to be careful around the use of dosing products to avoid resistance developing on farms.

Adult cattle should have sufficient immunity built up from previous grazing, second season grazers may need a dose if sufficient immunity hasn’t built up.

Faecal sampling should be used to determine if dosing is needed. Suckler and dairy calves need to be treated differently. Suckler calves are not as open to worm infection as dairy x calves. Dairy calves should get a dose three weeks after turnout and again at appropriate intervals during the year. If faecal samples show greater than 200 eggs per gram, a dose is needed.

At the start of the grazing season, following housing, cattle may have very little or no immunity to lungworm and are susceptible to new infections. Consult your vet and/or animal health professional when drawing up a plan for your farm.

SCEP Applications

There have been over 7,000 Suckler Cow Efficiency Programme (SCEP) applications submitted to date.

There has been some confusion around a letter sent out by ICBF on the current star status of cows, with a lot of farmers confused as to cows dropping in star values since last year.

Indexes will move up in time and so too will the 4 and 5 star bands, but the important thing to remember is that if a cow was eligible for BDGP she will continue to be eligible for the SCEP. Study your cows and see how many are eligible.

Anybody with any queries in relation to the scheme can send their questions to awoods@farmersjournal.ie and I’ll do my best to get you answers.