Fertiliser

With broken weather and heavy grass covers, it could be easy to forget about applying nitrogen. For farmers who haven’t spread any nitrogen yet, use the first dry spell that comes to get it out.

Due to weather conditions, fertiliser has been slow to move out of merchants’ yards around the country and this reduced demand has meant prices have dropped a little. This could have an impact on grass supply later on when heavy covers are grazed, if nitrogen is not spread.

On an average stocked beef farm at 140kg organic N/ha, the recommendations are to have 27 units N/acre spread in March to meet grass demand, with another 20 units/acre spread in April. Urea offers the best value in N fertiliser at the moment but needs damp, cold conditions for it to work at maximum efficiency. At current prices, the cost per kg/N (March 2019) is:

  • CAN: €280/t for 270kg N = €1.03/kg N
  • Urea: €370/t for 460kg N = €0.80/kgN

    • Target the most efficient land with the first application of fertiliser – recently reseeded swards, high-ryegrass swards, fields that are high in pH, P and K. Research has shown that soil temperature needs to be above 6°C before spreading and soil temperatures are running at 6-9°C this week across the country. Don’t forget lime P and K, and if you need to build soil fertility aim to spread a compound fertiliser in the second round to help build indices.

    Calving pens

    Don’t limit straw usage in calving pens. Make sure young calves have a clean, dry bed to lie on for the first few days.

    Try to clean out calving pens on a regular basis. Disease will build up in pens as calving progresses and this is when problems will arise. If a scour outbreak does occur, a good option is to try to move away from the shed that is being used for calving. This will help protect new calves from the disease. This won’t be an option on many farms and, if weather conditions are favourable, outdoors is the best option for newborn calves to avoid scour spreading. Plenty of fluids are very important for the scouring calf. Using oral antibiotics is questionable in many cases. The use of calf jackets for sick, weak calves seems to work well on some farms and can speed up the recovery process.

    Painkillers

    There was a lot of discussion at our mart demos around the use of painkillers while completing routine tasks such as dehorning and castration.

    The use of a painkiller can aid in an animal’s recovery and will obviously decrease the stress to the calf associated with the task. It is also recommended to use them after difficult calvings to aid cow and calf recovery.

    Research has shown that the recovery process is accelerated after their use and, in a time when animal welfare is becoming more important, the option of using a painkilling injection should be looked at. Painkillers are prescription only medicines so consult with your vet as to the dose rates and product options.