Bad weather: With the torrential rain over the last week, managing water run-off has been high on the agenda for many farmers. I met one farmer earlier in the week that had one of his slatted tanks filled with water in the space of one night. A drain that was taking clean water off a yard had blocked up with leaves and water had run straight down into the tank. Watch that all collecting channels are clean and tidy up any plastic bags or leaves around yards that might blow into the wrong place.

Pumping slurry: Pumping or drawing slurry from one tank to another is a regular Christmas job on many farms. We all know that there should be no animals or humans in the shed when slurry is being pumped but many take the chance. Try and let animals out into a yard while the slurry pumping job is taking place.

Don’t take chances because there have been too many close runs on most farms where luckily it was only a cow, bullock or heifer died from poisonous gases. Be careful, especially with young family members who are home on Christmas holidays.

Pre-calving minerals: While most silages are good quality, there are some inferior quality silages around and where soils are low in phosphorus and other minerals, the silage will also be low in those major minerals. Make minerals available where they are in short supply for many cows that are housed full time on silage.

At this stage of the year (four to six weeks) before bulk of calving, you are well advised to start dusting forage with minerals. I know it is difficult if feeding baled silage but you should aim to get some minerals in and splitting the daily requirement (100g to 120g/head per day) in two, morning and evening, will help availability.

Calf rearing: Plan now for more housing, especially if you had calf health problems last year. Overcrowding in poor facilities is one of the biggest problems on many farms. Do you need to build or buy a calf hutch now so that you are prepared for mixed weather? The Moorepark hutches reported on previously are 144 inches long and 50 inches high, with a slight slope in the roof to the back and are built so that the floor is five to six inches off the ground.

The advice is to leave vents in the back of the hutches at the top because in warm, muggy weather they can get stuffy, even if the front is completely open. I saw a durable group of plastic hutches at Balmoral Show prior to Christmas and you can find out more on www.calfhutch.com or on the www.jfc.ie websites.

Conference season: Two national dairy conferences are scheduled for early 2014. The Irish Grassland Association is holding its annual dairy conference in Kilkenny on 7 January. Book online or at 087-9626483. The Positive Farmers Conference is scheduled for Clonmel on 15 and 16 January. Book online or at 087-6070150.