Newford Farm, located in Athenry, Co Galway, removed its first surplus grass this week with paddocks getting ahead of stock on the three blocks of land where grazing is taking place. While grass supplies are not overly flush, the paddocks removed had covers of over 1,800kg DM/ha and would have been too strong to graze when earmarked for grazing in the coming days.
Growth has improved in recent days, after dipping below demand in the previous week (reflected in Table 1) and this is helping covers on the next paddocks for grazing so the grazing rotation should still be in a good position with these paddocks removed.
The three colours of tail paint currently in use - green in cows that have not been served, red in those inseminated once and blue for 1st repeat insemination.
The three colours of tail paint currently in use - green in cows that have not been served, red in those inseminated once and blue for 1st repeat insemination.
In total there were about 8ac (3ha) mowed on Thursday evening, raked on Friday and baled on Saturday. Taking swift action and cutting these paddocks at a low height means recovery will be swift with no negative effect on the rotation. Farm manager Matthew Murphy says it is likely that there will be more paddocks removed over the coming week which is hugely beneficial given the need to replenish fodder supplies. Having a source of high-quality bales will also pay dividends for feeding to finishing cattle or weanlings.
As such, the aim is to maximise growth rates during the peak growth period with 25 to 27 units of nitrogen being applied after grazing. The Newford block of land started has the highest demand for grass with 106 cows (101 with calves at foot and five cull cows) and 106 calves grazing and started its third rotation this week. Breeding has been noticeably quieter in the last week with over 90% of the herd inseminated in the previous three-week period.
Estrumate was administered to eight cows last week, of which four came into heat, bringing the total inseminated to 94 on Friday 18 May. The other four will be monitored in the coming days and will be checked by the farm’s vet if they do not come into heat.
As paddocks mowed are light in nature, recovery will be quick with paddocks quickly re-entering the grazing rotation. As paddocks mowed are light in nature, recovery will be quick with paddocks quickly re-entering the grazing rotation.
There were five repeats and these cows have received blue tail paint. Breeding of replacements heifers on the contract-rearing farm of Billy Gilmore are also on track with 21 out of 25 heifers bred a three-week period.
Grass utilisation has improved greatly this week but a number of the lower-lying and wetter paddocks remain tender. These paddocks were not grazed as tight in the previous grazing but the upturn in weather should allow these to be now grazed out to 4cm.
Newford Farm, located in Athenry, Co Galway, removed its first surplus grass this week with paddocks getting ahead of stock on the three blocks of land where grazing is taking place. While grass supplies are not overly flush, the paddocks removed had covers of over 1,800kg DM/ha and would have been too strong to graze when earmarked for grazing in the coming days.
Growth has improved in recent days, after dipping below demand in the previous week (reflected in Table 1) and this is helping covers on the next paddocks for grazing so the grazing rotation should still be in a good position with these paddocks removed.
The three colours of tail paint currently in use - green in cows that have not been served, red in those inseminated once and blue for 1st repeat insemination. The three colours of tail paint currently in use - green in cows that have not been served, red in those inseminated once and blue for 1st repeat insemination.
In total there were about 8ac (3ha) mowed on Thursday evening, raked on Friday and baled on Saturday. Taking swift action and cutting these paddocks at a low height means recovery will be swift with no negative effect on the rotation. Farm manager Matthew Murphy says it is likely that there will be more paddocks removed over the coming week which is hugely beneficial given the need to replenish fodder supplies. Having a source of high-quality bales will also pay dividends for feeding to finishing cattle or weanlings.
As such, the aim is to maximise growth rates during the peak growth period with 25 to 27 units of nitrogen being applied after grazing. The Newford block of land started has the highest demand for grass with 106 cows (101 with calves at foot and five cull cows) and 106 calves grazing and started its third rotation this week. Breeding has been noticeably quieter in the last week with over 90% of the herd inseminated in the previous three-week period.
Estrumate was administered to eight cows last week, of which four came into heat, bringing the total inseminated to 94 on Friday 18 May. The other four will be monitored in the coming days and will be checked by the farm’s vet if they do not come into heat.
As paddocks mowed are light in nature, recovery will be quick with paddocks quickly re-entering the grazing rotation. As paddocks mowed are light in nature, recovery will be quick with paddocks quickly re-entering the grazing rotation.
There were five repeats and these cows have received blue tail paint. Breeding of replacements heifers on the contract-rearing farm of Billy Gilmore are also on track with 21 out of 25 heifers bred a three-week period.
Grass utilisation has improved greatly this week but a number of the lower-lying and wetter paddocks remain tender. These paddocks were not grazed as tight in the previous grazing but the upturn in weather should allow these to be now grazed out to 4cm.
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