Weight gain
Declan Marren on 02 Jun 2021
Thrive: assessing performance at grass this spring
Weighing dairy-beef cattle at key times of the year is important to ensure targets are being met. Declan Marren looks at the latest performance on the demonstration farm.
Darren Carty on 21 May 2021
Tullamore Farm sheep update: lambs gaining 310g daily at 40-day weighing
A number of health tasks were carried out while weighing, including treatment for nematodirus, clostridial disease vaccination, blowfly protection and foot bathing.
Adam Woods on 12 May 2021
Beef Management: grass supplies, bull finishing, minding breeding bulls and BPS
Adam Woods has advice on breeding bull management, finishing under-16-month bulls, grass supplies and the upcoming BPS deadline.
David Wright on 05 May 2021
£1,500/ha performance boost from multi cuts
Cutting grass at 5 to 6 week intervals produces higher quality silage and more milk or beef per ha
Declan Marren on 05 May 2021
Thrive: transitioning calves to grass
Managing the transition from indoors to grass needs to be carefully monitored as rapid changes to calf diet and environment can have a negative effect on liveweight gain.
Declan Marren on 13 Apr 2021
Watch: Thrive dairy calf to beef special
Declan Marren outlines the 20-page Thrive special, available free inside this week’s Irish Farmers Journal.
Declan Marren on 10 Apr 2021
Thrive: hitting growth targets with yearlings at grass
Performance at grass for the first six to eight weeks post turnout is often the greatest of the year. It is important to have good grass ahead of stock at all times to maximise this thrive.
Kieran Mailey on 06 Apr 2021
Time for a weight check on replacement heifers
If maiden heifers will be mated in early summer, weighing replacements in April will give a good indication of how many animals are on track to hit target breeding weight.
Kieran Mailey on 23 Mar 2021
Beef management: making sure finishing cattle are not overstocked
Providing adequate lying space is something that is often overlooked in finishing cattle, yet will greatly hinder weight gain if not addressed.
Declan Marren on 10 Mar 2021
Managing cow condition from calving to breeding
Having cows in the correct condition at breeding has the biggest single effect on breeding performance. Declan Marren writes.
Kieran Mailey on 06 Mar 2021
Beef management: Five tips to prepare cattle for spring turnout
Turning cattle out to grass in mid to late March takes planning to make sure animals do not run out of grass. Outlined are some tips to get animals ready for grazing.
Declan Marren on 24 Feb 2021
Assessing sire performance on the Thrive demonstration farm
There is huge variation between sires used on the Thrive demonstration farm, both across and within breed. Declan Marren writes.
Declan Marren on 17 Feb 2021
Strong winter performance on Thrive demo farm
Performance over winter has been very respectable on the Thrive demonstration farm, with stock 17kg ahead of the same point last year.
Declan Marren on 06 Feb 2021
Thrive: final push for 24-month steer systems
Farms operating a 24-month dairy calf to beef enterprise are entering the final weeks of feeding pre-slaughter.
Kieran Mailey on 03 Feb 2021
BETTER farm NI: 10 steps to finishing spring-born bulls
Where spring-born bulls will be finished at 16 months of age, Kieran Mailey outlines 10 steps to transition animals through the final intensive feeding period.
Matt Dempsey on 13 Jan 2021
Home Farm: Disappearing silage and a freeze
As we monitor the rate of silage consumption, we will aim to begin grazing by day as early in February as conditions allow.
Declan Marren on 31 Dec 2020
Thrive: 2020 review on demonstration farm
As the year draws to a close, we reflect on some of the highs and lows of 2020 on the Thrive demo farm in Cashel, Co Tipperary.
Declan Marren on 27 Dec 2020
Teagasc beef conference: beef production from grass-forage diets only
Recent trial work at Teagasc Grange has looked at the target pre- and post-grazing sward heights for beef animals.
John Sleigh on 09 Dec 2020
Getting the best ration for young stock
With calves now weaned across the programme farms, Robert Gilchrist and John Sleigh look at youngstock rations.
Declan Marren on 09 Dec 2020
Thrive: time for lice treatment in the weanling shed
Do not let external parasites compromise liveweight gain this winter, writes Declan Marren.