Under-16 month autumn bulls: Getting the housing weight right is critical in under-16 month bull producing systems, and with many farmers considering housing autumn-born bulls over the next few weeks, housing at the right weight is very important in avoiding overweight carcases.

Housing these animals earlier may also help reduce grass demand and free up grass for other stock. The advice here is to consult with your processor as to the age and weight of the animals that will be coming fit and likely time of slaughter.

Processors would generally say you should endeavour to have an average carcase weight of under 420kg.

A bull with a carcase weight of 420kg at a kill-out of 58% will weigh about 700-720kg liveweight at slaughter. Factoring in an average weight gain of 1.5-1.8 kg/day, bulls need to be housed at 500-560kg liveweight.

To maintain high levels of performance, concentrates should be given at grass up to about 5kg/day in one to two feeds prior to housing.

The increase to ad-lib meal feeding levels can then take place indoors over a two-week period. When feeding bulls at grass, think safety at all times.

I was talking to a factory agent recently who says there is an increased number of stock being slaughtered in the last two to three weeks under the required fat score of 2+ to achieve the QA bonus.

With heavy bulls now hitting over €5/kg in marts, and factories putting pressure on young bull quotes in the last few weeks, you need to sit down and do the sums.

At a base price of €7.10/kg, a young bull killing 400kgs will come into just shy of €3,000. Bulls at 500kg regularly hit €2,500/head in marts this week so it’s never going to pay to bring through to finish when this money is available. Just because you finished them before doesn’t mean you have to finish them again.

Silage: With a lot of second silage being cut this week, those that are thinking of closing up for a third-cut should plan their fertiliser requirements now. Slurry should be applied first with about a week left between slurry and fertiliser application to avoid nitrogen losses.

As grass growth and yields are generally lower than first- and second-cut, the advice is to go with 70 units/acre on old pasture and around 80 units/acre on perennial ryegrass swards. Take account of nitrogen in any slurry that has been spread, but keep in mind nitrogen recovery will be lower in summer.

One thousand gallons of slurry should contain about 3 units nitrogen (N), 5 units phosphorus (P) and 30 units of potassium (K).

Farm Safety: With children around yards more during the summer, keep safety at the top of your priorities. Yards can get very busy at silage time, and children shouldn’t be allowed in the yard.

Remember to close all tanks once slurry spreading is completed. On a quiet day have a walk around the yard with them and encourage them to identify the risks and potential dangers in the yard. Explain to them why things are dangerous.