The 95-cow suckler herd at CAFRE’s lowland Abbey Farm is run on a commercial basis. The herd is 100% spring-calving, which started on 21 February.
As of Monday 27 April, 83 mature cows and heifers had calved, with 82 live calves at foot. All heifers calved within the first eight weeks.
Cows are calving to Stabiliser bulls and calves are small, but extremely lively once they hit the ground
There are still 11 cows to calve from a total of 95 scanned in-calf last autumn. There was one cow that originally scanned in-calf, but subsequently turned out to be empty.
The farm management team has reported few issues. Cows are calving to Stabiliser bulls and calves are small, but extremely lively once they hit the ground.
Management
Cows and in-calf heifers received ad-lib silage for a two month period pre-calving. Prior to this, silage intakes were restricted based on body condition at housing time.
Cows calved in individual pens
Pre-calving minerals were also fed from mid-January onwards. Cows calved in individual pens. Once the cow and calf had bonded, they moved to loose housing in groups of five to eight animals before going out to grass.
Health
The recent spell of good weather has allowed cows to be turned out promptly after calving. Cows got a mineral bolus to cover any potential magnesium, iodine and selenium deficiencies at turn out.
Primary and booster vaccines to cover BVD, IBR and Leptospirosis were administered in January. Cows were also vaccinated pre-calving to help control the main scour-causing viruses.
Breeding plans
The herd has made great use of AI in recent years. Using AI provides greater access to proven sires with high EBVs across maternal and terminal traits.
There should be at least 90 cows to breed
This year, maiden heifers will be synchronised and inseminated to the Stabiliser bull Givendale Black Premiere. This bull has proven to be very easy calving, making him ideal for heifers.
There should be at least 90 cows to breed. Cows will graze in three groups, with plans to breed two groups using synchronisation and fixed time AI.
AI
Fixed time AI allows for greater planning and cuts down the number of times cows need to be handled.
Cows earmarked for AI have been selected based on calving interval, calving difficulty and previous calf performance, such as 200-day weaning percentage and carcase gain data.
All animals being synchronised will be scanned by the vet to ensure they are suitable for breeding
Cows that have not calved at least six weeks prior to the start of the breeding period will be excluded from the AI groups.
All animals being synchronised will be scanned by the vet to ensure they are suitable for breeding.
Maiden heifers that repeat will get a second service to AI, whereas the two groups of cows will run with stock bulls to cover repeats. The third group of cows will also run with the stock bull.
Calf performance since weaning
The performance of the spring 2019-born calves throughout the winter has been excellent. All heifer calves received 1.5kg/day of meal, along with ad-lib silage up until turnout.
This was to ensure heifers met target weights ahead of breeding. There are 24 heifers selected for breeding this year, with the group averaging 380kg back in mid-February.
Heifers selected for breeding achieved a daily liveweight gain of 1.14kg/day, from housing up until turnout.
Grazing
With all heifers now at grass, the breeding season will start in mid-May. Having animals settled at grass prior to breeding has led to improved conception rates in previous years.
The heifers not selected for breeding achieved a similar daily weight gain over winter. However, they also had the lowest weaning weights.
Lower weaning weights are usually a result of being born later in the calving season, lower milk yield, or poor mothering ability. All of these are undesirable traits for future cows.
Finishing bulls
All male progeny from the suckler herd on the Abbey Farm are finished as young bulls. Target carcase weight is 380kg by 14 months old.
Bulls averaged 550kg when last weighed on 25 March, representing a daily gain of 1.55kg/day since weaning in October.
Ten of the heaviest bulls were over 600kg and five of these animals were killed on 28 April at 13 months and under.
Diet
All young bulls are currently being fed high-quality silage (D-Value 73), along with 8kg/day of a high-energy beef blend.
The blend is fed twice daily, with a maximum of 4.0kg fed at any time to reduce digestive upsets.
Keeping on top of grassland management
Only the 11 cows still to calve, plus the young bulls, remain housed. Dry conditions have allowed swards to be grazed out well, getting residual covers down to 1,400kg DM/ha (4cm-5cm).
Getting grazing swards down to these residual levels in April and May will improve regrowth potential and grass quality in the next round.
Growth rates
Grass growth has remained below 40kg DM/ha/day, which is below the current level of demand from grazing animals. However, this is not currently a concern.
P and K indices are at optimum levels across the farm
With rain forecast this week, grass growth is anticipated to increase over the next 10 days. P and K indices are at optimum levels across the farm.
As a result, straight nitrogen fertiliser with sulphur has been applied on grazing and silage ground, along with slurry.
Fertiliser
Grazing areas received 62kg/ha, or a half bag per acre, of protected urea on 5 March. Fields targeted for first-cut silage received 2,500 gallons per acre of cattle slurry in February.
This was then followed by a total of 185kg/ha of protected urea, split between two applications.