Gerard and John Grieve – Donegal

Gerard and John Grieve have 34 spring-born weanlings on the ground this autumn – 16 bull calves and 18 heifers.

Cow type on the farm would traditionally have been a first- or second-cross from the dairy herd. However, in recent times, more and more continental breeding has been creeping in.

Weanling heifers on the Grieve farm.

The bulk of this year’s calf crop is sired by the farm's Charolais stock bull Trenamullen Mick. Sired by the very popular Doonally New (CF52), this bull has an impressive terminal index value of €154, boosted by carcase weight of 38.7kg and conformation score of 2.13.

A handful of maiden heifers were bred to Salers AI sire SA2153.

On 29 September, bull calves were weighing 377kg. That’s a great weaning weight, underpinned by an exceptional average daily gain of 1.47kg since birth.

Heifer calves are also weighing well. On 5 October, the group averaged 312kg,with a 1.2kg average daily gain from birth.

Weaning

The first of the weaning was forced upon the Grieves as a result of poor weather.

The group of 18 weanling heifers were weaned three weeks ago, in order to take significant pressure off the deteriorating ground conditions. Cows were housed and weanling heifers were left at grass. These heifers are currently receiving 1.5kg/head/day of concentrates.

The mothers of the bull weanlings are also housed, but they are not yet weaned. Calves can suckle, but then lie in a straw bedded creep.

This creep area also opens out onto a concrete yard for meal feeding and also provides access to grass.

John noted the calves’ interest in grass is decreasing and meal is their preferred option. They are currently on 3kg/head/day. The bull calves have been vaccinated against pneumonia.

Wintering

Due to housing constraints, the weanling heifers will be sold prior to housing. Some will be on sale in Raphoe livestock mart on Tuesday 22 October.

The bull weanlings are destined for under 16-month bull beef. Once weaned, they will be offered 3kg/head/day concentrates and top quality silage.

All silage was tested last week to get an accurate valuation and meal feeding will be adjusted accordingly. Meal feeding will be increased gradually over November and December, with the aim of moving the strongest bulls to ad-lib meal feeding and straw in late January. To stay on target, the batch will need to do very close to 1kg/day over the winter to hit 500kg at 12 months of age.

Glen McDermott – Sligo

Bull weanling on Glen McDermott's farm.

Glen McDermott has 39 spring-born calves on the farm this autumn: 23 bulls and 16 heifers. Over the course of the BETTER farm programme, Glen has ramped up his usage of AI, in an effort to maximise the quality of stock on the ground.

The current calf crop has been sired by Simmental sires Lisnacrann Fifty Cent, (SI2469) and Curaheen Earp (SI2152); Limousin sires Elderberry Galahad (EBY) and Castleview Gringo (GWO) and Charolais sires Fiston (FSZ), Gedeon (GEZ) and Cavelands Levi (CH4252). They were bred to Glen’s herd of continental-cross cows.

On 31 July, bull calves weighed 241kg and heifers weighed 212kg. Assuming a daily gain of 1.3kg on bulls and 1.1kg on heifers, bulls should now be around 340kg and heifers should be near 300kg.

Weaning

Little and often was the approach taken to weaning. Once or twice a week, Glen has been picking five to six cows out of the group of bull calves and heifer calves. The calves stay behind at grass with the main herd, while the cows are pulled into the shed.

When I visited the farm last week, less than five cows remained with each of the groups of calves. They have since been removed.

Weanling heifer on Glen McDermott's farm.

Bull calves were getting meal in a creep feeder prior to weaning and since weaning, the group is getting 1.5kg/head/day.

Heifer calves were not getting meal prior to weaning, but they will be allocated 0.5-1kg/head/day for two to three weeks prior to housing. All weanlings have received their primary vaccination against pneumonia and the booster shot is due soon.

Wintering

Bull calves will be housed in the next 10 days. All of the remaining paddocks in their rotation will be grazed soon, while grass quality is rapidly declining.

They will be housed on 2.5kg-3kg/head/day concentrates and the best quality silage in the yard. Similar to the Grieves, these bulls are destined for slaughter under 16 months and the target will be to get to 500kg average by the time they reach 12 months old in early March.

The majority of heifer calves will be kept as replacements, with surplus heifers to be slaughtered at around 24 months of age. The rule for these heifers will be ‘last in, first out’.

They will be used to graze the remaining covers of grass this backend and, because they are light on foot, they should stay out until the end of November.

These will also be the perfect candidates to graze early spring grass. Over their short winter, silage plus 1.5kg/head/day concentrates will be fed.