EBI changes: The EBI for all stock has changed this week, as ICBF implements the planned changes to the index.

While the headline figure of an €80 to €90 drop in EBI seems massive, it needs to be remembered that its mostly as a result of the base change. This is something that ICBF does every 10 years.

While it will take a bit of time to get our heads around the new figures and what is high and what is low, they are the same animals this week as they were last week, and high EBI cows last week are still high EBI cows this week. Some re-ranking has taken place within a herd or within the active bull list. This is because the economic values have been updated with higher milk prices and higher costs, which are more reflective of the current situation.

The big thing to watch out for is that the PTAs have changed, because the base cow is different. The kilos of milk figure has reduced by around 80kg, which means that over 60% of herds will have a negative PTA for milk volume. This doesn’t mean they need more milk, it just means that they have less milk volume than the base cow. The new base cow has a 305-day yield of 6,287kg of milk and 490kg MS. When looking for high production, the key is to focus on the milk sub-index and not the milk kilo PTA. Other changes have been made to the maintenance sub-index. The new maintenance figure for a cow with a mature liveweight of 525kg is €44, up from €23 previously.

Cleanout: Getting a good cleanout was a big challenge over the last few weeks, but with more settled weather and possibly less nitrogen in the grass, the aim should be to get residuals back down to target levels.

The weather has been really good for the past week and the forecast for next week is good also, but there is rain due over the weekend. Cows have been a bit spoiled for the last few months, but they need to work harder now as we head into the last grazing rotation. Carrying over a lot of stem and big dungpads into the winter is not good. Grass needs to be conditioned to grow a nice, leafy sward and that starts now. Where grass covers are on target, reduce the amount of meal and silage being fed. Ideally, cows should be on 2kg or 3kg of meal for the back-end and this will help to ensure a good cleanout. More will have to be fed if grass isn’t on target.

Winter prep: As we approach housing time, take the time now to prepare for winter. Are there broken cubicles to be repaired/replaced? Are water troughs working and have the troughs been cleaned out? Are all automatic scrapers working properly, are all gates hanging and are all lights working? The other very important thing to do now is to make sure all gutters and shoots are working properly. Water getting into tanks is one of the main reasons why slurry tanks are filling up faster than they should be. Some of it is from shoots over-flowing, while water flowing into tanks from yards is another common cause. Make sure all slurry tanks are emptied by the end of the month.