Grass

It's been another quiet week on Tullamore Farm.

The farm had a clear herd test this week, which is a relief in advance of the autumn sale of in-calf heifers.

There has been plenty of rain, which has meant we have had good grass growth over the past seven days.

Growth was recorded at 50kg DM/ha for the last week and with demand running at 30kg DM/ha/day, it means the farm is growing in excess of what it needs.

This will probably mean paddocks coming out next week if the weather allows.

After that, we will try to avoid taking out any paddocks in order to build grass covers ahead of autumn.

There is currently 28 days ahead of stock and the grazing block is stocked at 1,469kg/ha.

Calves are being encouraged to creep graze ahead of cows, with the electric fence being raised in the centre of paddocks.

No slaughtering this week

One-hundred bales of straw were purchased this week at €15/bale delivered.

Fly activity is still a problem and all in-calf heifers were treated with a fly pour-on this week to avoid any cases of mastitis.

The final scan of the cows and in-calf heifers is due to take place at the end of the month.

No lambs were killed this week. There was 35 lambs ready to go, but they weren’t sent on account of ongoing protests at factories.

There are also a number of heifers ready for slaughter. However, these will also be held back until protests are over.

Tullamore Show demo

Tullamore Farm will play a central role in our livestock demo at the National Livestock Show in Tullamore on Sunday.

Cows, calves, in-calf heifers, ewes and lambs will all be on display on the Irish Farmers Journal stand.

All sectors will be covered, including a live demo on the animals from Tullamore Farm.