Alastair McNeilly

Antrim, Co Antrim

All stock, with the exception of 20 cows that have still to calve, are now at grass. Grass growth has been slow, but with rain welcomed over the past week, so I used the opportunity to apply the second round of fertiliser on the grazing block. Cattle are now on their second rotation around paddocks.

I have managed to set aside some paddocks for baling. I’m planning to mow around nine acres on 5 May followed by a further four acres later in the week.

These bales should be of top-quality feed. Once bales have been cleared, I plan to get farm yard manure on to these paddocks.

Apart from that, the general farm work is going on as normal, with maintenance of fences, washing out cattle sheds and preparing pits for first cut harvest.

Grassland weeds are also being targeted with spraying and all cattle vaccines up to date, with replacement heifers covered for leptospirosis and BVD.

Paul and Thomas Jamison

Dromore, Co Down

We have been busy changing our paddock set-up, with new fences in place to make further divisions, erecting new gateways and re-positioning drinkers.

There are currently 13 cows left to calf from 75 breeding females. Calving started on 8 March, so I am pleased at how tight the calving has been compared to previous years.

The heaviest of our spring-2019 born bulls will be slaughtered in the coming fortnight. From the last weighing, our bulls are currently gaining over 1.7kg/day.

Spraying weeds and other grassland work is ongoing, along with cattle vaccinations programmes.

We plan on selling some yearling heifers this week through the mart to ease grazing demand and boost cash flow.

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