This is a subscriber-only article
As 2020 gets under way, a new year means a new beginning. Take the time to consider what changes to farm management would make a positive impact on the output of your herd.
Outlined are five new year's resolutions to consider as possible changes to farm management in 2020.
1 Work out your cost of production
Completing a profit monitor (or a benchmarking exercise) is one of the best things you can do for your business.
Knowing what it costs to keep cows will really focus the mind on what is happening inside the farm gate.
Sometimes the figures will be scary and you will ask hard questions of yourself. But the first year of completing this exercise will also be the worst.
Once you have a baseline of information, target two key areas that you will focus on changing in 2020.
Do not try to change everything inside one year. There is no way you can make effective changes to every part of the farm in 12 months.
So start with the easiest tasks that give a quick return; for example, the calving period and rotational grazing.
2 Tightening the calving period
Late-calving cows wean light calves, yet they cost just as much to keep as the earliest-calving cows.
Take a look through your scanning results for spring 2020. Get out the herd book and look to see if the late-calving cows are always at the tail end of the calving pattern every year.
Selling these animals in early spring or as they come closer to calving will take these animals out of the system for good. They are calving late for a reason.
Once sold, they can be replaced with early-calving cows or a cow and calf outfit. This option means more calves are weaned next autumn, at heavier weights, increasing sale value and income.
Run the stock bull for 12 weeks this year. Cows with poor fertility will automatically slip out of the herd, leaving the more fertile cows for breeding in future years.
3 Weigh cattle regularly
Beef farms have one source of income, which is the amount of liveweight produced on farm. The more kilos sold out the gate, the more income generated.
There is no point waiting until cattle are sold to notice they are lighter than last year. Trying to compare this year’s store cattle with your memories of the equivalent animals standing on farm last year is not a reliable indicator of comparing cattle performance.
So take the plunge and invest in a weighbridge. The scales will always tell the truth about how well cattle are performing.
Weighing animals will indicate if there is an underlying health problem, poor diet or if herd genetics and management are not up to scratch.
4 Aim for an early turnout
We can control everything but the weather. But on most farms, there will be opportunities to get a few cattle out to grass earlier than last year.
An early turnout does not mean opening the shed doors and letting all cattle out to grass on the same day. Rather, target a few lighter cattle like yearling heifers or strong autumn calves.
Let these animals out to grass as soon as ground conditions allow. This could be February or April, but, either way, there will be a positive response in terms of growth rates.
Heavier cattle can be turned out later in spring, once there is enough grass and ground conditions are suitable.
5 Rotational grazing
If you do not already rotate cattle on the grazing platform, make 2020 the year you start. Start small and focus on four or five grazing fields.
Split fields into two divisions using electric wire, so that you have between eight and 10 paddocks. Move cattle to fresh grass every Monday and Friday and dress all paddocks with nitrogen every third week.
Once you get more confident in terms of judging when to move animals, you can split paddocks up more or increase grazing numbers.
Starting small means you are better able to adapt your grazing management and able to cope with surplus grass or grazing deficits.
SHARING OPTIONS: