Up to last year, we began moving the bulls into the sheds from July onwards, so there was always a high level of activity in the yard with finished bulls going to the factory and their replacements coming in for their 120 days on full feed.
As well as feeding, there was lots of slurry being produced. This year, with my dairy beef cattle, it is utterly different. The only cattle in are the few on their final 50 or 60 days of silage and limited meal before they go to the factory. All the beef specialists and our own figures confirm that every day a dairy-beef steer spends in a house is a day that costs money.
Despite the low dry matter at this time of the year, the steers are putting on about 0.6kg of liveweight a day
This doesn’t just apply to days on final finishing feed but even when being stored over the winter on silage and 2kg of meal, a loss is incurred provided you cost in your silage, etc, at a real price.
An element that shouldn’t be forgotten is that dairy-beef animals have a higher intake than continentals and therefore eat more silage so the sums are very different.
Meanwhile, out on the grass, despite the low dry matter at this time of the year, the steers are putting on about 0.6kg of liveweight a day.
This is at no direct cost so we have still practically all the cattle outside eating good leafy grass and gaining weight. We will stick with that until either the grass runs out or the weather drives us indoors.
The desiccant applied more than three weeks ago had done a moderate job in killing off the oilseed rape and charlock but the bindweed infestation was in a class of its own
Meanwhile, last Saturday evening, we finished the beans. I always knew it was going to be difficult – for the last few months the stunted crop had developed a mat of weeds, mainly volunteer oilseed rape, charlock and bindweed.
The desiccant applied more than three weeks ago had done a moderate job in killing off the oilseed rape and charlock but the bindweed infestation was in a class of its own. When we had about 15 acres left of the particularly badly affected field and having to stop sometimes every 20 yards or so to unblock the intake augur, we had to resort to one of us walking alongside the combine as it cut and strip the wrapped bindweed from around the augur.
We finally finished at 9pm, having started the worst section at about 2.30pm.
But the beans were finished for this year. Some lessons were learned and at the end of the day the yield at about 1.5t/acre – half of last year’s three tonnes – was better than my worst expectations. Also, over the dry weekend, we started the winter barley and so the circle begins again.
Home Farm: key period for laying the foundations for the year ahead
From the Tramlines: drills out as planting about to commence