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Breeding: A lot of farmers are two to three weeks into breeding and some are very tired. You make mistakes or rush things if you are tired. Delegate jobs to either family or farm help to give you a break. The weather has been excellent and has helped. I talked with a farmer this morning who has eight maiden heifers he hasn’t bred in with the milking cows to allow him keep a close eye on them.
The same farmer was giving out that he got poor results with prostaglandin (PG) injection. The product could be wrong, but the big problem with lots of heifers is that they are not up to weight and are not cycling and hence no product will work. If maiden heifers are squeezed in winter they will gain 0.5kg per day or less. If they can’t get to grass early they could be 50kg behind where they should be. That same farmer is going to sow kale in June on an outfarm to help better weight gains next winter and take pressure off the shed.
Stock bulls need observing also and record keeping shouldn’t stop just because the stock bulls are out. Remember, a bull can get a high temperature, lame, hurt etc that could render him useless. The bull is key to success – crying about 10% not in calf is easier than crying about 40% not in calf. Take notes of when you see the bull in action and watch three weeks later for repeats.
Grass: A weekly walk is essential and many will go twice at this time of the year. The dry weather is probably affecting results and decisions for some already. I hear much talk of impending drought. Set your farm up for growth now to maximise yield at this time. Real dry farms in the east make poor second cuts a lot of the time.
Calves: Following our reports on coccidiosis in calves on Farm Tech Talk last week, I had plenty of reaction from farmers saying they had the very same situation. Whether it’s beef-bred calves or dairy heifer replacements, scour can run through calves very quickly.
Herding and dealing with it quickly are key. Don’t leave it on the to-do list. I still see calves hanging around yards or in the paddock beside the yard where the sick cow goes. Get them away and out on clean grass. It’s more hassle, but long term it’s a much better job.
Nitrogen with sulphur: Sandy, free-draining soils with low organic matter are most at risk of sulphur deficiency but countrywide trials showed a response on many soil types.
Research has shown on medium loam soil types the application of sulphur increased the yield of grass by over 40%. Medium loam texture is typical of large areas of farmed grassland throughout the country.
The most deficient soils are likely to be in counties Carlow, Cork, Galway, Roscommon, Kilkenny, Offaly, Kildare and Tipperary. Start dribbling it on now.
On soils containing high amounts of molybdenum, large applications of S may interact with the molybdenum and lead to copper deficiency.
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