Breeding and silage are looming on the horizon and they’ve snuck up on me to an extent.
Overcast weather for much of the last two months meant the veil of winter hung over the place and, while the calendar moved on, it didn’t feel that way.
A fleeting appearance by the sun for a few days in mid-April teased at what was possible and lifted the farming spirits. Then the mist returned. I can’t remember the day exactly because we had so many like it, but I think it was last Tuesday. It wasn’t raining, but everything was soaked.
The return of the better weather has made life easier on cows on Tommy Moyles' farm at Ardfield, Clonakilty, Co Cork.
When I went up to the yard at the village, it was peak Ardfield mist. There’s a double whammy, as that yard is both close to the sea and high. A magnet for mist.
Walking through the upper feed passage, the Galley Head Lighthouse is right in your eyeline and when the morning sky is blue, it seems close and almost Grecian in its appearance. When you near the field-side door Rosscarbery Bay and Toe Head come into sight and what a sight they are.
However, when the mist rolls in, you’re lucky if you can see from one end of the yard to the other. It’s smothered in grey beyond that.
They’re the kind of days that could be expensive if an auctioneer had a house showing booked in the locality. Fire a gale in the mix and the picturesque feed passage transforms into an uncomfortably wet wind tunnel.
Since October, there’s been far more of those wet, windy or murky days than I’d care to remember. At some point from then until now we’d have got a few odd weeks of reprieve, but it feels like that didn’t happen this year, hopefully we’ll see some from now on.
I was smiling as the rain made a brief return Friday evening
Farming is funny though and after being fed up of wet weather, I was smiling as the rain made a brief return Friday evening. In a rare venture, a mix of oats and peas were planted earlier that day, and the showers put an end to me rolling the field for 24 hours. Two days of harsh easterly winds did a lot to dry out the ground at home and that bit of moisture should give those seeds a good start.
After a break of almost three weeks, calving got back underway and there’s only a handful left to go now.
Those calves are likely to get a more pleasant start than those born earlier in spring. A week should see most of them through, but I’ve got a feeling that, as ever, there will always be one cow that will hold off until breeding gets underway.
With the weather picking up it should take the handbrake off the shed too. I knew early on in April when weather wasn’t playing ball that there was likely to be some cows and calves indoors until May.
I’m envious of those that have all their land in one block sometimes
There was grass for them on the out farm, but ground conditions weren’t up to scratch and we couldn’t justify the labour in rounding them up and bringing them back home again.
I’m envious of those that have all their land in one block sometimes, but a benefit of fragmentation is having a good block of silage that’s away from the temptation to graze. That first-cut yield along with the leftovers put the farm in a comfortable position to weather whatever the weather throws at us.
Within a fortnight, the first steps of the heifer synchronising programme will be completed and there’s a strong possibility of the mower landing too.
With one wintering period barely over, preparations will begin for the next one.
Breeding and silage are looming on the horizon and they’ve snuck up on me to an extent.
Overcast weather for much of the last two months meant the veil of winter hung over the place and, while the calendar moved on, it didn’t feel that way.
A fleeting appearance by the sun for a few days in mid-April teased at what was possible and lifted the farming spirits. Then the mist returned. I can’t remember the day exactly because we had so many like it, but I think it was last Tuesday. It wasn’t raining, but everything was soaked.
The return of the better weather has made life easier on cows on Tommy Moyles' farm at Ardfield, Clonakilty, Co Cork.
When I went up to the yard at the village, it was peak Ardfield mist. There’s a double whammy, as that yard is both close to the sea and high. A magnet for mist.
Walking through the upper feed passage, the Galley Head Lighthouse is right in your eyeline and when the morning sky is blue, it seems close and almost Grecian in its appearance. When you near the field-side door Rosscarbery Bay and Toe Head come into sight and what a sight they are.
However, when the mist rolls in, you’re lucky if you can see from one end of the yard to the other. It’s smothered in grey beyond that.
They’re the kind of days that could be expensive if an auctioneer had a house showing booked in the locality. Fire a gale in the mix and the picturesque feed passage transforms into an uncomfortably wet wind tunnel.
Since October, there’s been far more of those wet, windy or murky days than I’d care to remember. At some point from then until now we’d have got a few odd weeks of reprieve, but it feels like that didn’t happen this year, hopefully we’ll see some from now on.
I was smiling as the rain made a brief return Friday evening
Farming is funny though and after being fed up of wet weather, I was smiling as the rain made a brief return Friday evening. In a rare venture, a mix of oats and peas were planted earlier that day, and the showers put an end to me rolling the field for 24 hours. Two days of harsh easterly winds did a lot to dry out the ground at home and that bit of moisture should give those seeds a good start.
After a break of almost three weeks, calving got back underway and there’s only a handful left to go now.
Those calves are likely to get a more pleasant start than those born earlier in spring. A week should see most of them through, but I’ve got a feeling that, as ever, there will always be one cow that will hold off until breeding gets underway.
With the weather picking up it should take the handbrake off the shed too. I knew early on in April when weather wasn’t playing ball that there was likely to be some cows and calves indoors until May.
I’m envious of those that have all their land in one block sometimes
There was grass for them on the out farm, but ground conditions weren’t up to scratch and we couldn’t justify the labour in rounding them up and bringing them back home again.
I’m envious of those that have all their land in one block sometimes, but a benefit of fragmentation is having a good block of silage that’s away from the temptation to graze. That first-cut yield along with the leftovers put the farm in a comfortable position to weather whatever the weather throws at us.
Within a fortnight, the first steps of the heifer synchronising programme will be completed and there’s a strong possibility of the mower landing too.
With one wintering period barely over, preparations will begin for the next one.
SHARING OPTIONS