IFJ Suckler Scheme Webinar

There continues to be a huge reaction to the details around the National Beef Welfare Scheme.

The Irish Farmers Journal livestock team have been inundated with calls, texts and emails from farmers expressing their frustration about the funding for the scheme and the inclusion of IBR testing as a requirement.

Many farmers feel that the IBR testing element will do very little for their herd, and some are worried about the implications of testing and what that could mean for selling animals in the future.

Farmers are also frustrated that in some cases the scheme will cost them money if they meal feed all the calves in their herd, but only get compensated to feed 40.

On the other hand, the scheme is still an important avenue to get critical funding into the suckler herd and while the scheme is far from perfect, farmers should think twice before not applying for the scheme.

Based on all the feedback and questions, the Irish Farmers Journal has decided to run a special webinar this Thursday 7 September from 7pm-8pm.

On the webinar we will go through the scheme, how farmers can apply, what the payment rates are and discuss and address some of the issues that farmers have with the scheme.

Donal Lynch MRCVS will go through everything in relation to IBR and what it means for cattle farms.

A Department of Agriculture spokesperson will also be on the webinar to answer reader questions on the new scheme. To watch the webinar log on to www.farmersjournal.ie/webinar

Mart trade

The mart trade is on the up, with dry cows taking a particular lift over the last seven days. Heavy cows have been making anything between €2.20-€2.60/kg this week in marts depending on quality and flesh cover.

Dry cows have been regularly hitting over €2,000/head in marts, €100-€200 more than what they are worth to the ordinary farmer going into a factory. It’s a great time to scan spring calving cows to see if they are in calf or not.

No one likes empty cows, but looking at an empty cow for the next 12 months is a lot worse than cutting your losses now, selling her and replacing her with an in-calf heifer.

Grass/Slurry

Many farms, especially in the west of the country, will be using the good weather to concentrate on getting any remaining fields of silage baled and getting tanks of slurry emptied.

There may not be many weather windows left to apply slurry and get field work done. I have had a few questions about spreading fertiliser. Grass growth has been good, but some farms still need a bank of grass going into autumn to extend grazing.

One of the questions has been around protected urea and the fact that the enzyme used to protect it won’t last until spring, so should it be spread now.

If you think you need more grass, the fertiliser should go out. Closing date for spreading chemical fertiliser is 15 September. If you opt to keep it until next spring, it will need to be treated like ordinary unprotected urea when spreading.