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Grass growth has been under pressure due to the lack of rainfall during June and July. Two weeks ago, grass growth fell to just 3kg DM/ha/day, which meant we were quickly running out of grazing days ahead of cattle.
Thankfully, we received some rain on Friday of last week. Although there is still a moisture deficit on farm, we spread fertiliser on Saturday and the combination of heat, nitrogen and rain has helped to increase grass growth to 26kg DM/ha this week.
While this is still below the grazing demand of livestock, it is a step in the right direction in terms of grass growth.
Fertiliser was applied at a rate of one bag per acre of CAN to grazing and silage ground surrounding the home farm. I have more fertiliser to spread on the outfarms in the week ahead.
Grazing days ahead
The home farm is carrying 74 cows and calves, which are being grazed in two groups for breeding management.
As of Monday, grazing days ahead for one group of cows is down to nine days, with the second group having around one week of grazing ahead.
Thankfully, we are getting excellent grass utilisation at the moment, which is helping to stretch out the grazing rotation. Cows are being left to clean each paddock out fully before moving to fresh grass.
Stretching the rotation
To relieve the pressure on the grazing platform, I have 16 acres of silage aftermath to come into the rotation once the current cycle finishes.
Second-cut silage was harvested on 5 July. There were 50 acres closed off for second-cut, but only 48.5 acres of silage was harvested. The other 1.5 acres was grazed to take the pressure off the grazing block in late June.
Silage yields were lower than I would have liked, so I have plans to close off 20 acres of silage ground on the home farm and another nine acres on an outfarm for a third cut.
The remaining silage ground will also be used to stretch out grazing rotations for store cattle and replacement heifers grazing on outfarms.
Reducing stocking rate
I had a group of 31 store bullocks grazing on an outfarm from April until early July. However, this ground is extremely dry in nature and as the cattle were being set-stocked, there was little grass growth in recent weeks.
As a result, I brought 18 bullocks back to the home farm to ease the grazing demand. The remaining 13 bullocks will hopefully remain on the outfarm until housing in autumn.
This year, I have decided to use some AI to breed a select group of cows to try to introduce more maternal genetics into the herd.
I pulled out 20 cows that I thought were suitable for breeding replacements and inseminated the cows with the Beef Shorthorn sire Hussar of Upsall. The bull has a good mix of maternal and terminal traits, as well as being easy-calving.
The first cow was inseminated on 12 June and for the first two weeks, 10 cows were inseminated to natural heats. After this point, I injected cows with estrumate to stimulate breeding activity.
However, just four cows responded to estrumate, giving me 14 cows served to AI. The remainder were allowed to run with the stock bull.
Strong terminal traits
Counting the cows that were bred to AI, I have 74 cows being bred this year. Cows are in two groups and being served by either an Angus or Limousin bull. Both sires have been on farm for a number of years now and are strong in terminal traits.
The plan is to leave the bulls with the cows until scanning time in September. My calving pattern is extremely tight, with 89% of cows calving in a six-week period this spring.
Even though the bull is not removed on a set date, I would still expect to maintain such a tight calving period and, given the low level of breeding activity at present, I am hopeful that breeding has gone well and most cows are now covered.
Along with the two groups of cows, there is a group of 25 heifers being served by an Angus bull. My plan is to keep as many of these animals as possible, provided they are in-calf.
This means that I have 99 cows and heifers being served and my target for the herd is to have 85 cows weaning 85 calves next year.
Allowing for a few empty cows and heifers after breeding and a couple of losses at calving time, I should hopefully have sufficient numbers served to reach my herd target next year.
The 31 store bullocks were turned out to grass on 14 April, having been previously turned out for a brief period in March. However, a downturn in grazing conditions led to these animals being re-housed.
The bullocks were weighed on 30 June and they averaged 440kg. Daily liveweight gain averaged 0.72kg/day since turnout on 14 April, which is below the target 1kg/day for the group.
The bullocks have been wormed with a pour-on and I have been feeding minerals to them regularly, as blood samples last year indicated cattle were low in iodine.
I am considering taking further blood samples to determine mineral levels in store cattle, as the lack of grass growth could also be limiting the uptake of minerals from the soil, meaning cattle are taking in less minerals through grazing.
Finishing
The plan for the bullocks is to house and finish them this winter. Last year, the bullocks were killed in February and March.
This year, I am planning to finish cattle much earlier. I would like to house them in September and try to get as many killed before Christmas.
By housing in early September for finishing, the other programme farmers have shown there is a boost in performance, with weight gains of 1.4kg to 1.6kg/day common.
This would be a more cost-effective option to finishing compared with grazing into October and finishing next spring.
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