The programme farmers are currently getting soils tested to see how good soil fertility levels are. With expanding suckler herds, there is a requirement to grow more grass annually for grazing and conserving as winter forage.
To do this, there are two options available to the farmers. Either increase the area being farmed by renting more land or focus on making the current farm much more productive.
In all cases, the farmers are following the second option. January and February is the best time to get soils analysed, as there will have been no fertiliser applied since early autumn.
Therefore, sampling now will give a more reflective indication of soil nutrients levels naturally present.
Once results are returned, a fertiliser plan can be put in place for future years. Slurry can be targeted to soils that are most deficient in phosphate (P) and potash (K), with chemical fertiliser used to top up nutrient levels.
Soil pH will indicate if lime is required. Where results are low, applying lime should be a priority for the year ahead, as increasing fertiliser rates on acidic soils is unlikely to give the desired response.
Similarly, where soils are low in P and K, then a compound NPK fertiliser will be required to increase grass growth. Again, applying higher rates of CAN to nutrient-deficient soils throughout the year will not give the expected increase in grass growth.
However, applying a product such as 25:5:5 will support higher growth rates across the season, with a marked increase in early and late season grass growth. However, compound fertilisers must only be used when there is a definite need, as shown in soil analysis.
Week in review
Benchmarking has now been completed on the farms for 2017.Soil sampling is ongoing before any early season fertiliser is applied.Scanning is being carried out for autumn-calving herds.Dry cow minerals are now being fed to spring-calving cows.Farmer focus: Ryan McDowell, Gleno, Larne
Preparing for spring calving
Things are reasonably quiet on farm at present, but this will change shortly with spring-calving set to start from early March.
Cow numbers have been expanding over the past three years and this spring we will calve down 67 cows and 32 heifers.
Last spring, we calved 37 cows and 36 heifers. This year’s replacement heifers are a mix of 14 homebred heifers and 18 heifers that were bought as calves from a dairy herd and reared for breeding.
We have been buying in dairy-bred heifers since establishing the suckler herd and it works well in our system.
All calves are repeatedly sourced from the same farm, so we know the background of the animals and health status. Sourcing replacements from the same farm keeps our herd uniform in terms of size, type and cow performance.
All breeding stock have been served to either an Angus or Hereford sire. Heifers are bred to a mix of AI and stock bulls.
Pre-calving diets
Both cows and replacement heifers are in ideal body condition at present. Cows are on 20kg/day of first-cut silage and 2kg of straw, purely to stretch silage supplies this winter.
Straw was purchased back in November, with 8x4x3 bales costing £70 each. Around six weeks prior to calving, we introduce a pre-calving ration to cows at a rate of 1kg/day. The mix mainly includes wheat feed, soya hulls and pre-calving minerals.
We have been doing this since we started the herd and find it works well to get extra energy into cows and it also helps to stretch silage supplies.
Heifers are eating 30kg/day of first-cut silage and minerals. Salt licks have also been provided to both cows and heifers.
Cattle health
Dung samples showed that there is a very low level of fluke present in cows. As cows are in good body condition and showing no visible signs of any fluke burden, we are holding off on giving them a second dose at the moment.
However, we are still monitoring cows closely and may decide to give them a fluke drench prior to spring turnout.
Cows are up to date for salmonella and IBR vaccines. They are due to get a scour vaccine in mid-February and we usually treat them with Rotavec.
Cows were also blood sampled for mineral status. Results were generally OK, but they did indicate the herd is slightly low in selenium and iodine, so we will probably increase mineral supplementation rates to make sure there are no issues at calving time.
Market opportunities for store heifers
We have 36 yearling heifers along with 23 dairy-bred heifers to go back to grass. I am undecided yet as to how many of these animals to breed.
Having sold nine surplus in-calf heifers in October at an average of £1,150, there is potentially a good market opportunity for me to supply replacement heifers in future.
The heifers sold were born in March 2016 and were 18 months of age at sale time.
I want the herd breeding numbers to settle at 100 cows, excluding replacements, so I will most likely put all heifers to the bull this year.
Breeding started on 28 May last year and I’ll probably do the same again this year. AI will be used on heifers, with a stock bull used as a sweeper. Heifers will get a BVD and Lepto vaccine before breeding time. Any heifer not in-calf will be sold for beef next autumn.
We also have 33 steers to go back to grass in spring. Both steers and heifers were on ad-lib first-cut silage and 1kg/day of concentrate over the winter period. Meal was cut from the diet at the weekend to get them ready for grazing. Dung samples were also taken from store cattle.
I am planning to give them a second fluke drench in the coming week using a product that covers them for lice, as several animals are scratching repeatedly.
Steers will be killed next autumn and marketed through the premium breed schemes. I killed 17 suckler-bred steers in October and November.
They averaged 291kg carcase weight at 19 months of age worth £1,165. Conformation was evenly split between O and R grades, while one Limousin-bred animal made a U grade. All cattle graded at fat class 3 and 4.
Steers were housed for six weeks prior to finishing, as weather conditions prevented them from killing off grass. We have just purchased a new Angus stock bull, to join a new Angus bull purchased last year. Both bulls are strong on growth traits, which will hopefully filter through to cattle weights in future.
Read more
Aiming for high output from smaller suckler cows
Young suckler herd in expansion mode
The programme farmers are currently getting soils tested to see how good soil fertility levels are. With expanding suckler herds, there is a requirement to grow more grass annually for grazing and conserving as winter forage.
To do this, there are two options available to the farmers. Either increase the area being farmed by renting more land or focus on making the current farm much more productive.
In all cases, the farmers are following the second option. January and February is the best time to get soils analysed, as there will have been no fertiliser applied since early autumn.
Therefore, sampling now will give a more reflective indication of soil nutrients levels naturally present.
Once results are returned, a fertiliser plan can be put in place for future years. Slurry can be targeted to soils that are most deficient in phosphate (P) and potash (K), with chemical fertiliser used to top up nutrient levels.
Soil pH will indicate if lime is required. Where results are low, applying lime should be a priority for the year ahead, as increasing fertiliser rates on acidic soils is unlikely to give the desired response.
Similarly, where soils are low in P and K, then a compound NPK fertiliser will be required to increase grass growth. Again, applying higher rates of CAN to nutrient-deficient soils throughout the year will not give the expected increase in grass growth.
However, applying a product such as 25:5:5 will support higher growth rates across the season, with a marked increase in early and late season grass growth. However, compound fertilisers must only be used when there is a definite need, as shown in soil analysis.
Week in review
Benchmarking has now been completed on the farms for 2017.Soil sampling is ongoing before any early season fertiliser is applied.Scanning is being carried out for autumn-calving herds.Dry cow minerals are now being fed to spring-calving cows.Farmer focus: Ryan McDowell, Gleno, Larne
Preparing for spring calving
Things are reasonably quiet on farm at present, but this will change shortly with spring-calving set to start from early March.
Cow numbers have been expanding over the past three years and this spring we will calve down 67 cows and 32 heifers.
Last spring, we calved 37 cows and 36 heifers. This year’s replacement heifers are a mix of 14 homebred heifers and 18 heifers that were bought as calves from a dairy herd and reared for breeding.
We have been buying in dairy-bred heifers since establishing the suckler herd and it works well in our system.
All calves are repeatedly sourced from the same farm, so we know the background of the animals and health status. Sourcing replacements from the same farm keeps our herd uniform in terms of size, type and cow performance.
All breeding stock have been served to either an Angus or Hereford sire. Heifers are bred to a mix of AI and stock bulls.
Pre-calving diets
Both cows and replacement heifers are in ideal body condition at present. Cows are on 20kg/day of first-cut silage and 2kg of straw, purely to stretch silage supplies this winter.
Straw was purchased back in November, with 8x4x3 bales costing £70 each. Around six weeks prior to calving, we introduce a pre-calving ration to cows at a rate of 1kg/day. The mix mainly includes wheat feed, soya hulls and pre-calving minerals.
We have been doing this since we started the herd and find it works well to get extra energy into cows and it also helps to stretch silage supplies.
Heifers are eating 30kg/day of first-cut silage and minerals. Salt licks have also been provided to both cows and heifers.
Cattle health
Dung samples showed that there is a very low level of fluke present in cows. As cows are in good body condition and showing no visible signs of any fluke burden, we are holding off on giving them a second dose at the moment.
However, we are still monitoring cows closely and may decide to give them a fluke drench prior to spring turnout.
Cows are up to date for salmonella and IBR vaccines. They are due to get a scour vaccine in mid-February and we usually treat them with Rotavec.
Cows were also blood sampled for mineral status. Results were generally OK, but they did indicate the herd is slightly low in selenium and iodine, so we will probably increase mineral supplementation rates to make sure there are no issues at calving time.
Market opportunities for store heifers
We have 36 yearling heifers along with 23 dairy-bred heifers to go back to grass. I am undecided yet as to how many of these animals to breed.
Having sold nine surplus in-calf heifers in October at an average of £1,150, there is potentially a good market opportunity for me to supply replacement heifers in future.
The heifers sold were born in March 2016 and were 18 months of age at sale time.
I want the herd breeding numbers to settle at 100 cows, excluding replacements, so I will most likely put all heifers to the bull this year.
Breeding started on 28 May last year and I’ll probably do the same again this year. AI will be used on heifers, with a stock bull used as a sweeper. Heifers will get a BVD and Lepto vaccine before breeding time. Any heifer not in-calf will be sold for beef next autumn.
We also have 33 steers to go back to grass in spring. Both steers and heifers were on ad-lib first-cut silage and 1kg/day of concentrate over the winter period. Meal was cut from the diet at the weekend to get them ready for grazing. Dung samples were also taken from store cattle.
I am planning to give them a second fluke drench in the coming week using a product that covers them for lice, as several animals are scratching repeatedly.
Steers will be killed next autumn and marketed through the premium breed schemes. I killed 17 suckler-bred steers in October and November.
They averaged 291kg carcase weight at 19 months of age worth £1,165. Conformation was evenly split between O and R grades, while one Limousin-bred animal made a U grade. All cattle graded at fat class 3 and 4.
Steers were housed for six weeks prior to finishing, as weather conditions prevented them from killing off grass. We have just purchased a new Angus stock bull, to join a new Angus bull purchased last year. Both bulls are strong on growth traits, which will hopefully filter through to cattle weights in future.
Read more
Aiming for high output from smaller suckler cows
Young suckler herd in expansion mode
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