I could keep talking about the coronavirus and how it's affecting everyone.

I could complain about the bulls I killed last week being cancelled from the week before, the price dropping 15c/kg in the meantime, meaning their price dropped approximately €60 per head or I could complain about the bulls I hope to kill this week or next being down another 10c/kg.

But I’m not going to. I’m going to try to focus on the positives of life.

In a normal year if the weather is good, I love this time of year. Things are starting to green up and grow and stock are usually going to grass, which is a huge treat for man and beast.

Working with stock

I spent a good part of last Saturday working with stock. I put the genomic tags for the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) into my calves, gave them a 10-in-one clostridial vaccine and put half of them out to grass.

I haven’t measured any grass yet, but with a few lambs running around all winter there are no huge covers.

James Strain on farm with his daughter.

However, if ground conditions stay as good as they have been for the past week, I hopefully should be able to keep grass in front of them easily enough.

Silage ground

It’s always a rush this time of year to try to get the silage ground grazed off to get it closed. But it's also a balancing act - close it off too soon and you may not be able to grow enough grass to keep everything grazed on the rest of the farm.

All cows that are scanned in-calf are now at grass along with a few maiden heifers. I usually sell these heifers around the end of April through the mart.

I'm not sure what my plan is going to be for them this year, but hopefully I’ll be able to organise something to allow me to sell them. Establishing their value is going to be the tricky bit!

Cattle on grass on James Strain's farm in Donegal

It's been three weeks since I synchronised a batch of cows that hadn’t shown heat since calving. Two of these repeated at the weekend, but the rest seem quiet, which is hopefully a good sign.

Mop up

I’m going to watch them for another few days and then let the bull in to mop up. I will scan the cows that I don’t see repeating in two to three weeks; that way I’ll know for sure if they are in-calf to AI or the bull.

I know for a lot of people there is no real normality at the moment. At least we farmers have the small luxury in these crazy time of being able to go out and do some of our normal work. Stay safe everyone.

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