The heifers needed moving on Sunday evening and Tim elicited my help. Leo O’Sullivan would be scanning on Monday. The heifers had to cross two fields and go across the top of another field to access their next grazing area.

Tim had put up a temporary fence to keep them on the headland. They had done it many times over the summer so all they needed were gentle calls. Once they saw the jeep coming, they lined up at the gap. Tim opened the wire and they were away like racehorses, their pelts shining black, red and white in the glorious sunshine. “You drive,” said Tim. He hopped into the passenger seat and directed Bran, the Kelpie, to work the heifers forward into the next field. The six-year-old has turned into a great cattle dog, taking direction from Tim in the jeep.

We crossed the second field and the heifers rounded into the passage created by the temporary fence. They turned the corner while being gently prompted by one man and his dog.

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Meanwhile, I was driving towards the sun. Now, I could call this next piece laziness personified or ingenious workmanship. I’d better go for the latter. Tim commanded me to stop as I turned the corner into the passage. He dropped the plastic hook of the temporary fence onto the ground.

The first eight heifers went in and Leo declared three of them empty. Our idle chat stopped. We were not expecting that result. We knew one was not in calf, but three in the first group was a shock. The rest of the heifers passed through and all were in calf

Back in the jeep I was instructed to stop at the first pole. “Nose in,” he said. Tim deftly reached down and whipped up the pole into the jeep. He was taking up the fence while I was driving. I’ve seen him do this from the driving seat also. It was a new experience for me. I was delighted to be able to judge accurately where the poles were. Once the job was done, Tim secured the heifers into the new plot. It’s such a different experience turning them into lush pasture with the drought a distant memory. We drove home.

Hidden costs

On Monday morning, the heifers were just up the permanent passage from the corral and crush. Down they came, looking gorgeous after a summer of growing and putting on condition. Leo walked along the crush lathering on some oil to enable the scanner to move freely. There were five of us on hand and we were all chatting on a beautiful, fresh morning.

The first eight heifers went in and Leo declared three of them empty. Our idle chat stopped. We were not expecting that result. We knew one was not in calf, but three in the first group was a shock. The rest of the heifers passed through and all were in calf. They were secured back into the field and we headed home.

We began to dig into the results. It’s quite obvious that the drought took its toll on the heifers. They were fed well but the heat had been difficult for them and fertility had suffered.

We put the results into the ICBF programme. The heifers had been inseminated with conventional semen. Sixteen out of 55 had repeated, and had subsequently been picked up by the bulls. That number was higher than we’d expect for heifers, illustrating again that the drought had put pressure on fertility.

While grass growth has recovered well, there are hidden consequences of the drought from fodder shortages to reduced fertility. There is no doubt that the prolonged drought had financial consequences with money spent on feed and silage that would have been valuable over the winter.

We’ve also rented stubble ground from a neighbouring farmer and put in a crop of rape to recoup the winter feed that was used during the drought. Three empty heifers are yet another hidden cost of the summer drought.