Breeding

Most farms now have six weeks of breeding done. Traditionally, this is the time that farmers leave bulls with cows. The risks with bulls are high – some are cross and dangerous, some fire blanks and some have very big calves causing hard calvings and some will be under too much pressure so they won’t cover all cows. Mitigating these risks involves fertility-testing bulls prior to use. If only one bull is being used then this is a must-do job. Bulls can become sub-fertile from time to time so a bit like buying shares or investing in a fund, past performance is not an indicator of future performance. In terms of bull power, a young bull is only supposed to cover 15 open cows while a mature bull can cover 25 or 30 open cows. An open cow isn’t in-calf yet. If you have 100 cows, and bred 90% in the first three weeks and 40% of them repeated, that means 50 cows should have been bred in the last three weeks. If 60% of them held, there should be around 30 open cows now. So in this case, one mature bull should suffice but a back-up or a substitute bull that can give the main bull a rest is always recommended. As for calving difficulties, in this instance past performance is the best indicator of future performance. Gestation length and calving difficulty are the things to watch. The continental beef breeds are nearly all out of the question as a result. Some larger farms are continuing to do AI as they feel bulls are too dangerous and hard to manage. If staying with AI, heat detection becomes harder as activity decreases.

Winter feed

This week, we look at calculating how much silage has been made so far and what you expect to get in the second cut. Alternative feed options are available, such as buying grass silage, maize, wholecrop and also sending out cattle for B&B or contract rearing. The latter option can be a very good move as if the animals go soon you will build up grass for a bigger second cut and you won’t have to feed the animals over the winter. With cattle still dear to buy, taking in cattle should be considered by beef farmers as a way to make a guaranteed margin without increasing the workload or changing the system too much.

Maintenance

Now that the bulls are out and silage is made, attention should be turning to maintenance around the yard. Fixing up yards, gates, water troughs and calving and calf sheds are all jobs for the next few weeks, as is power-washing sheds. Priority for washing are calving sheds and calf sheds. The longer they get clean and dry the better chance there is of killing the bugs and bacteria. Power-washing by itself doesn’t kill the bacteria, but it will remove the dung where they live. Bacteria need moisture to survive, so washing a shed and leaving it dry for as long as possible is an excellent control mechanism. Use an approved disinfectant in a knapsack sprayer to disinfect the buildings after washing out. It’s not just the farm that needs maintenance, people do too. Arrange for a health check this summer and book a holiday.