James Strain

Burnfoot, Co Donegal

I was somewhat surprised with the grass growth figure this week as I didn’t think it was as good as that. Regrowths are slow to recover. We are in need of heat more than moisture here. It is still quite cold here.

Some stronger paddocks on the farm are being grazed at the moment as we are reluctant to take out grass until temperatures rise. Typically the last week or 10 days of May always comes with a burst of growth here so we are hoping this holds true. The majority of cows were artificially inseminated prior to turnout as we calve November to January. The bull is running with a small batch of cows now to clean up. Cows and calves will be weighed for the BEEP-S scheme in two weeks’ time and we split cows into two groups to separate bull and heifer calves.

Brian Geraghty

Dysart, Co Roscommon

There is plenty of grass on the farm. However, areas that have been grazed have slowed in recovery. I don’t like to say it but we need some rain here to kick things on again. I can see it in the silage ground also. The plan was to cut this week but we will leave it until the start of next week at this stage.

There are 74 yearlings out since mid-March. They are doing well and graze-outs are excellent thanks to the good conditions.

We are rearing 93 calves this year. They are all on once-a-day milk at this stage. Weaning will commence at the end of May. They are eating a nice bit of meal at the moment. This will be removed from late May or early June. If grass quality is good I don’t see the point in feeding meal.

Ger McSweeney

Milltown, Co Cork

I was glad to see growth rates increase this week. We have had a few weeks of lower growth due to the cold conditions. Re-growths had been slow but have really bounced this week due to some milder weather.

Silage ground seems to be flying and we will cut some later this week. This is to target a high DMD silage for the weanlings over winter.

Grazing ground is currently getting a bag and a half of 18-6-12 after each grazing. Once everything has received one round of compound, we will switch to protected urea plus sulphur at a rate of a half bag per acre post grazing.

Breeding is almost finished. We are 100% AI and there are only a couple of cows left to serve. We hope to have an eight-week breeding season this year.