There were echoes of the early winter last week when we took half of our cattle in for a week to let the ground soak after such a prolonged period of wet weather.

We’d hoped to keep them outdoors until winter housing, but water was beginning to stand in fields and as we’d good covers of grass, having it walked into the ground wouldn’t exactly be optimal farming practice.

Though the cows weren’t too enthusiastic about this, it worked out perfectly for weighing all stock for the Beef Welfare Scheme (BWS), along with vaccination for the older calves, three of which we’re planning to sell in a couple of weeks.

While we thought it would be difficult to administer and the trickiest part of the operation, the intranasal vaccine was surprisingly simple.

On the other hand, most of our animals believed the scales to be a portal to hell, and encouraging them to stand on it for more than a few seconds was more through perseverance and luck, than skill.

It’s not often I’ll say this, but sometimes having stock that aren’t easily spooked to move forwards can be a hindrance, with the other time usually being when an animal has four feet planted to the ground looking up a trailer ramp, merrily ignoring all the hollering and arm waving going on behind them.

Every year we try and guess the weights of stock and while we’re pretty accurate with the weanlings from selling them every year, older stock are that bit more difficult. Consequently, we were pleasantly surprised at the weights of the two yearling heifers, with both around 520kg at 15 and 16 months.

The older lady is now a month in-calf, so has received very little in the way of feeding over summer as I don’t want her too big for calving, whereas the younger bucket-reared one is being fed strong as we plan on selling her next month if the trade continues to flourish.

Worming and weaning

While indoors and now knowing weights, the earlier calves were wormed as our latest dung sample had shown a moderate burden level despite the dry year.

After a couple of days to allow any surviving eggs to be shed into the tank instead of onto fresh pasture, they were released back outdoors as the forecast picked up at the beginning of the week.

The two eldest heifers and their dams were left indoors for weaning, which in recent years we undertake as a gradual process instead of a sudden separation. By moving them to adjacent pens for a day before putting space between them it seems to be less stressful for both parties and as both have been eating ration for some time now they didn’t appear overly concerned about the lack of liquid refreshment.

The cows and younger calves outdoors weren’t forgotten, and as we were feeding the ones indoors with hay, a couple of forkfuls (or a two prong if you’re so inclined) were taken out to be spread on firmer ground under trees each morning. Not one declined it either, and woe betide our ears if we weren’t on time at 8am.

The current forecast shows us heading into October with some favourable weather and hopefully this will allow us to graze off as much pasture as possible without tramping ground.

Nevertheless, there’s no mistaking that winter is on the way, over one weekend when the first grass frost appeared, there was a mass exodus of swallows from the sheds around here. They were simply there one day and gone the next, a bit like money in a bank account.