Cull cows: Cull cows continue to be a good trade in marts, with very good northern demand for top-quality animals. Top-quality well-fleshed continental cows are making €2/kg and over it in some cases. These prices are in excess of what cows are worth to farmers, with small numbers going to factories. While plainer cows are back a little, the trade is still strong and farmers should seize the opportunity if they have cull cows to sell.

Scanning should be carried out as soon as possible to determine any empty cows. Keeping these cows over winter months will increase costs with very little net gain on prices being paid at the moment in marts.

Dealing with weather: Grazing conditions have deteriorated over the last few days in all parts of the country. Reducing group sizes will help to reduce damage to fields and paddocks. Bull calves and heifer calves should probably be separated by now anyway.

Watch out for tetany and make sure you have licks out. Cows grazing lush pasture are high-risk and wet weather can reduce intakes and bring it on. Keep a close eye on autumn-born calves also. Make sure calves are getting up and stretching and staying with their mothers. If housing has to take place, try to house stock dry and make sure the shed has lots of ventilation. Leave doors open if you have to. Don’t stress animals out further by vaccinating, dosing or castrating when housed, ideally all this will have been done beforehand.

Dosing: Make sure you are up to date with dosing to ensure weanlings are healthy and lungs are clear in advance of the stressful weaning period. Faecal samples won’t pick up lungworm infection and it’s important to monitor animals for signs of coughing when herding. Ivermectin-based products will give an instant kill and will have a three to four weeks of a residual activity period. White/yellow drenches will not give as severe a kill and may be a better choice where you think there is a bad lungworm infection or in purchased weanlings where you aren’t sure of the dosing history.

Applying for the Beef Finisher Payment: I put together a short video this week on applying for the Beef Finisher Payment. It’s a fairly simple process.

There are a number of screens where you have to tick boxes; a lot of the information is pre-populated on the application screens. Suckler farmers who may have sold cows in the mart or at home must check to see if they have animals eligible for payment. I’ve spoken to a few farmers this week who have been surprised that when they sold cows that were killed within 30 days of selling, the payment would come to them if they apply for the scheme.

Log on to www.agfood.ie to check your eligibility status. If you are not a member of the Bord Bia Quality Assurance scheme, you need to undertake to become a member by 30 September 2020. Applications close on 9 September 2020.