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The first week in May is typically one of the busiest weeks of the year, and this year is no different. There are two key tasks at this time of year which trump all others – getting cows back in calf and making sure there is quality grass in front of the cows so as to hit a high peak milk production.
In relation to breeding, after seven days of observing heifers, you should inject the remaining heifers to be served with prostaglandin (PG). This will bring them into heat between two and five days later.
For cows, it’s all about regular heat detection and observation. This takes time and effort but is well worth it.
There should be no difference in conception rate to a heat from PG or a natural heat
If using tailpaint, this needs to be topped up every four or five days to keep it fresh and glossy, otherwise there could be more missed heats.
Farmers who have carried out pre-breeding heat detection should be arranging to get the cows not yet seen bulling scanned.
A proportion of these cows will need a washout, while more will need a CIDR in order to get them back cycling faster than if left to their own devices.
In other cases the vet or scanner will recommend that a cow receives a shot of PG in other to get her to short cycle.
These are cows that are already cycling so the PG will just get them to come bulling a little earlier. There should be no difference in conception rate to a heat from PG or a natural heat. That said, many farmers will decide to wait and let them come in naturally.
Interestingly, a share of cows will show strong signs of heat a few days after being handled, even if they didn’t get any extra hormones – the palpitation of the uterus seems to stimulate a heat.
Grass
Keeping quality grass in front of the milking herd is critically important in May. The key thing is to manage the pre-grazing yields and prevent them from getting too high or too low.
Too high is the usual issue. Walking the farm regularly, keeping the average farm cover at or around 180kgDM/cow and taking out surplus paddocks when they arrive are the key management steps to keep it right.
In order to do this you must be walking and measuring the farm at least every five days. A lot of farmers cut out a few paddocks for bale silage over the weekend as the forecast for the rest of the week is more mixed and grass growth rates are expected to be good.
Having a high number of cows in calf early in the season and achieving a high milk yield at peak are two key management factors that have a big bearing on profitability.
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