My autumn-calving cows finished calving over five months ago (early in September) and it has been a nice break since then.

I always look forward to calving starting but when I have been at it for a month or so I really look forward to it coming to an end.

I have got into a system of calving for about seven weeks in the spring and then seven weeks in the autumn. This system is not for everyone and there are times when I think that it is not for me either. It is certainly not as simple as it sounds.

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I try to restrict myself to six weeks of artificial insemination (AI) for both herds although it is hard to stop sometimes.

I recently scanned my autumn cows and I was very well pleased with the results. I inseminated for 43 days and I have over 90% in-calf. It’s probably as tight as I have ever achieved. It should produce an even batch of calves, with the workload finished up quickly.

Test

I had the dreaded TB test last week and as usual all the upset has caused the cows to start calving quicker than expected.

People say that it should not make any difference, but it has always had an effect here.

My cows were not due to start for a couple of weeks, but they have been coming thick and fast since the TB test.

It started with a set of twins, followed by a burst of others calving. The resultant calves are all very small, but they are alive and thriving. I am already packing up the calving pens.

The trouble with small calves is that they need a little extra time in the calving pens before we can move them into group pens.

Weather

It is a pity that the weather is so poor as it would have been nice to think that the cows and calves would have been getting out soon. As things stand, turn-out seems a long way off.

However, the big downside with a tight calving period is that calves come thick and fast and it can be difficult having enough space.

It is like a game of chess where we are always looking a few moves ahead, but when things start going wrong you quickly run out of options.

My son does the same thing with his sheep, where ewes basically get two cycles with the ram – when the lambing starts, they come thick and fast.

With lambing due to begin in about 10 days and calving at the same time, it is going to a busy month or so.

Field work

There is an added complication to this year’s calving and lambing.

We have had such severe weather over the last couple of months that there has been no field work done. We had lots of fencing maintenance still to do and then there is all the slurry which has not been moved.

On top of that is normal spring work of fertiliser sowing and cattle and sheep turn-out.

It is building up to be a very busy time on the farm. It will be all hands to the pump and not much sleep.

I would think that there will be lots of cross words and a few fallouts over the weeks ahead, but the one major thing to remember is that it will quickly come to an end.

It is definitely a positive to have a defined start and a finish date.