Farmer Writes: mistakes made, lessons learned

It was a busy week on the farm here in Abbeyleix, with plenty of jobs on the go. We managed to get 2,500 gallons of slurry per acre on 40% of the milking platform using the umbilical pipes. It’s good to get that job done early in the season. I’d hoped to get some slurry out on the silage ground as well, but with rain forecast for the weekend, I might have to hold off.

On the animal health front, we vaccinated all the cows for rotavirus and IBR last week. That’s one less thing to worry about as we head into the busy spring period. The slats were finally installed on the new tank as well, which meant we could pour the concrete at the back of the parlour and get the gates hung. It’s great to see that area taking shape and getting closer to being ready for the cows.

We had some extra hands on deck too, as our new student, Enda, started last week. He’s been a great help so far and got stuck in straight away with setting up the calf and calving pens. We gave them another quick wash and disinfected them once they dried out, and they’re now fully bedded and ready to go. The first few calf pens are also ready, so we’re set up well for the start of calving. He also has all the calf feeders and bottles washed and sterilised, ready for calves.

One of the small improvements I’m working on is putting down rubber matting at the parlour exit and on the ramp into the collecting yard. I bought the mats during the winter and hope to get them down next week. These two areas have been a bit hard on the cows’ feet, so I’m optimistic this will help reduce lameness.

Before milking starts again, we’ll also be changing all the liners in the clusters. I’ve found that fresh liners help keep the clusters on better, particularly with the heifers, which makes milking a bit easier.

We finally received our TAMS Women Farmers’ Capital Investment Scheme (WFCIS) payment last week. While it was a welcome boost to kick off the new year, it was long overdue — the claim was in since April. Still, it’s good to have it sorted now.

There was good news on the stock sales front too. I sold four breeding bulls last week to repeat customers. It’s always encouraging to see buyers coming back — it shows they were happy with the bulls they bought before.

Mistakes

The week wasn’t without its challenges, and unfortunately, we learned a costly lesson. While the contractor was here spreading slurry, we were also finishing the tank slats and power washing the parlour.

There was a lot happening at the same time, and I made the mistake of leaving the bulls and culls in the shed. Moving them was awkward with the slats going on and the collecting yard unsecured, so I chanced leaving them there.

It turned out to be a bad call. Tragically, we lost four bulls to slurry gas. It was a frightening experience and a big wake-up call.

Looking back, it could have been far worse, but the loss of the bulls was an expensive reminder never to take chances when slurry is involved.

As we move forward, the focus will remain on safety, especially with calving just around the corner. Mistakes like this are hard to take, but they serve as lessons to ensure it doesn’t happen again.