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James Martin and his father Owen are planning to start third cut silage as soon as drier weather arrives.
“We have 120 acres to cut around home and 60 acres to cut on an outfarm. It looks like an okay crop bulk wise, so we will just take it off the next chance we get,” James said.
The first batch of 20 heifers calved down over the summer and another group are due to start in the next few weeks. Overall, there should be 60 heifers calved down across three groups by next March.
The Martins manage young stock in groups according to their age and weight. In a spread calving system, this approach makes management easier with the likes of breeding and administering vaccinations and doses.
There are 18 dry cows at Garaba Holsteins at present, which is lower than the typical 20-25 cows in the dry group at any one time.
Housing
All dry cows are now housed full time as there were issues last year with summer mastitis and managing condition in some dry cows that were at grass on an outfarm.
“The dry cows have access to a small paddock beside the house, but they are fed through the wagon in the shed and get silage, straw and minerals for the first month. The near group get the same mix with a dry cow blend as well,” James said.
Read more in this week's Irish Farmers Journal and at ifj.ie/dairylink.
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