Grazing Conditions

Grazing conditions are still tricky on some farms, with fertiliser applications also delayed – especially across the northwest of the country. This is putting pressure on grass supplies.

The forecast is better for the end of this week, but farms with difficult soils will take a few weeks to catch back up. Fodder supplies have been cleared out on a lot of farms, so it’s important that these stocks are replenished over the next few months.

Try keep cattle on the rotation that they are on. Letting cattle out across a larger area won’t do anything to help grass supplies.

Some farms have weaned autumn calving cows. This has meant that cows can be tightened up a little more, leaving good grazing grass to the weaned calves.

Remember to weigh your cows and calves before you wean them to comply with the weighing measure with the new SCEP scheme.

Fertiliser should be applied to grazing ground as soon as conditions allow to boost grass growth and maximise the silage area that can be closed up for first and second cut silage.

Breeding

Breeding has started on many early spring calving farms. Some farmers are using AI for a few weeks at the start of the breeding season to try and breed replacements before using a terminal stock bull for the rest of the breeding season. If using AI, good heat detection is extremely important to get good conception rates.

Table 1 outlines the importance of conception and submission rate to high six week in-calf rates. Tail paint, vasectomised bulls and taking time to heat detect are all important in achieving high conception rates.

There are also a number of different technology providers providing aids to heat detection, although some of these can be cost prohibitive on smaller herds.

While best results will be achieved using the AM/PM rule (cows seen in heat in am are bred in pm and cows in heat in pm are bred in am), some herds, including the Tullamore Farm and Newford Herd, are just inseminating cows once a day at mid-day and achieving good results.

SCEP Reminder

Don’t forget about your SCEP application. It must be submitted online on agfood.ie by 22 May, leaving just over a week left to get applications in. There is a free 24 page SCEP magazine included in this week’s paper with all the details on the new SCEP, including answers to farmers’ questions we have received over the last number of weeks.