On Sunday the Tipperary footballers lined out against Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Tipp folk were disappointed as the 2019 hurling champions had been beaten by Galway on Saturday.

It was an historic and emotional weekend for the GAA, the people of Ireland and Tipperary as Bloody Sunday 1920 was remembered. The 14 people shot and killed in and around Croke Park including the footballer, Michael Hogan the Tipp captain from the Grangemockler Ballyneale club, were commemorated spectacularly by the GAA. The Munster Football Championship win against Cork was emotional and sweet after an 85-year famine.

I was kind. I didn’t gloat, but I might yet!

The line-up of the four teams to reach the semi-final mirrors that of one hundred years ago. Cavan meet Dublin and Tipperary meet Mayo. It’s a bit spooky! I enjoyed Sunday’s game immensely. The same can’t be said for my husband Tim. I was kind. I didn’t gloat, but I might yet!

Winding down

Down on the farm, things are winding down. Half of the cows have been dried off including all the heifers. They get a 12-week dry period. During the milk recording in late October all cows were screened for somatic cell count. Young cows with high counts were treated with antibiotics. Fifteen cows out of 130 with recurring high counts or empty were culled and sold to reduce the demand for grass.

The end of the grass growing season and how it is managed is as important as the beginning of a new grass growing year in spring. If the closing cover is too low, cows will be delayed going out resulting in depressed yields. If there is too much grass; quality will be reduced and cows won’t want to eat it and milk constituents will be lowered.

The end has come abruptly some two weeks sooner than the last few years

Grass management demands vigilance on a year round basis. Two weeks ago, the grass walk marked the end of grazing for 2020. The end has come abruptly some two weeks sooner than the last few years. That’s why it’s so important to do the physical walks.

Wet weather was a contributing factor. Reseeding was another. We believe in reseeding and there are many benefits; the most important being to keep up the quality of the grass, add clover to the sward, increase the palatability for the cows and the yield from each field. Having to stop grazing two weeks sooner than last year can be traced back to waiting for a contractor to come to sow the grass seeds. He was promising to come for two weeks and then the weather broke resulting in a further delay.

Is it any wonder farmers get cross with contractors not to mind the stress caused while waiting for contractors to come?

The reality is that the two weeks delay has resulted in one less grazing of the new grass reducing the yield from the new pasture. So that two weeks delay now means finishing grazing two weeks early. This cost is extra onto the reseeding bill. Is it any wonder farmers get cross with contractors not to mind the stress caused while waiting for contractors to come? Getting ground back into production quickly is critical to the overall profitability of the farm. Reseeding gives us higher grass yield in the spring and ultimately replaces ration. An average of 13.5t of grass per hectare has been grown on the farm this year. Some fields are yielding 16.5t so there is always room for improvement.

As I wrote last week, we stop grazing when grass cover is predicted to be 700kg dry matter per hectare (DM/ha) on 1 December. From experience, that should give us an average farm cover of 1,000kg DM/ha on 1 February 2021.

The cows are tucked up and cosy in the shed on the straw beds. Sixty will milk on until the middle of December. They have been vaccinated for salmonella and leptospirosis. Rotavirus vaccine will be given three to six weeks before calving.

It is important to know the quality silage for the cows

Last year, we split the cows into early and late. I believe this is important for optimum antibody transferral to the calf from the dam’s colostrum.

The silage tests have been completed. It is important to know the quality silage for the cows. We don’t envisage having to do any soil tests this year as they were all done last year and all are index 3 or 4 for phosphorous and potassium. Index 3 is considered the optimal level for all nutrients.

All in all, it’s been a good grass-growing and milk-producing year. Now all the focus is on the spring and the football semi-final!