Breeding:

Most spring-calving herds are now in week four of the breeding season. At this stage most cows should have had a cycle, and if cows are calved 30 days and still haven’t shown a heat, you should organise to have them looked at via scanning or a vet examination. Good scanning operators will pick up pregnancies from 28 to 30 days. Scanning cows served over 30 days will give you peace of mind that everything is going as planned. With a target conception rate of 60% that means that in a 30-cow herd, you should have 16 to 18 cows in-calf at this stage. If conception rate is lower than 60% and there are a lot of repeats, alarm bells should ring and you need to find the problem. If a mature bull has been running with a group of replacement heifers, he could be taken out and replaced with a young bull, as the level of repeats in this group should be low. Replacement heifers should not be bred for longer than nine weeks. If she hasn’t gone in-calf after three cycles, you have to ask yourself if she’s worth keeping.

Grass:

With very strong grass growth around the country, grass supply is ahead of grass demand on many farms. Grassland management is difficult at this time of year, and too much can sometimes be as bad as too little. An old farmer once said to me that if you lose the grass battle in May you have lost it for the year. Walk your farm and, even if you are not measuring, take note of the heavy covers and skip them if you think you can do without them. Don’t be tempted to delay cutting these paddocks for any longer than two weeks. While delaying harvest will help the sward bulk up, it will also delay them coming back for grazing and could lead to a grass shortage if they don’t come back in until July. Heavily stocked farms should take them out right away, as the aftermath will still be green. In many cases, these paddocks will be ready to graze again in three to four weeks. Don’t forget to spread some P and K on these paddocks the next time fertiliser is being spread.

Silage:

With a lot of silage being cut this week, those who are thinking of closing up for a second 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-cut the advice is to go with 70 units/acre (2.5 bags of 27.5 CAN/acre) on old pasture and no more than 80 units/acre on perennial ryegrass swards. Take account of nitrogen in any slurry that has been spread. However, nitrogen recovery will be lower in summer. One thousand gallons of slurry should contain about three units of nitrogen (N), five units of phosphorus (P) and 30 units of potassium (K).

Take extreme caution when agitating tanks and try to keep this job for a windy day. Silage and slurry work means the yard is extra busy. Keep children away from the yard during this time, and if they are with you don’t let them out of sight. Weather windows can be tight, but it pays to take your time during these operations.

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