Autumn means weighing time on Tullamore Farm and two weeks ago, all cows and calves were weighed.
We’ve been weighing cows and calves since the start of the project. It’s a great measuring stick to see how cows are performing and also what bulls are clicking with different cows in terms of quality and liveweight gain.
The heaviest bull calf in 2020 weighed in at 306kg at 148 days old on 25 August 2020. He gained 1.75kg/day since birth. He is by QCD and out of a five-star Limousin x Dairy cow.
The autumn weighing also doubles up for a BEEP-S weighing. BEEP-S will bring in €7,180 to Tullamore Farm in 2020 and is a much-needed support to suckler herds all over the country.
In total, 91 cows and calves were weighed on the farm on 25 August 2020. While performance is on target, it is back a little on the 2019 weighing performance.
The target is to grow bull calves at 1.3kg/day up to weaning and grow heifer calves at 1.15kg/day up to weaning.
This year’s bull calves gained 1.22kg/day since birth, while the heifer calves gained 1.14kg/day since birth.
This Fiston-sired bull calf weighed in at 260kg at 132 days old, gaining 1.61kg/day since birth. He is out of a five-star Limousin-cross cow with a replacement index of €181, one of the highest index cows in the herd.
The target is to have bull calves at 305kg at 200 days and heifer calves at 270kg, so heifer calves are on target and the bull calves are about 14kg off where they should be.
We can’t pinpoint exactly why. More heifers were brought into the herd in 2020 and historically they have always weaned lighter calves, so this could be one of the reasons.
This Simmental heifer calf weighed in at 242kg at 149 days, gaining 1.34kg /day since birth. She is by SI4383 and out of a five-star Limousin-cross cow with a replacement index of €141.
Weanlings will be weighed again at housing to see if the trend is continuing or if it has corrected itself.
Tables 1 and 2 outline the performance of the 2020 batch of weanlings compared with the 2019 performance.
Table 3 outlines the different sire performance in 2020. The Dovea Genetics Simmental sire Cloondron Calling (QCD) and the NCBC sire Fiston (FSZ) were the top performers in 2020.
The four bulls at the bottom of the list are a little disadvantaged, as they were all progeny out of first-calved heifers.
Tables 4 and 5 take a look at the top-performing male and female calves in the herd.
Read more
In pictures: a busy week in Elphin Mart
Argentinian beef exports to stabilise as China continues to grow
Live winter finishing webinar on farmersjournal.ie
Autumn means weighing time on Tullamore Farm and two weeks ago, all cows and calves were weighed.
We’ve been weighing cows and calves since the start of the project. It’s a great measuring stick to see how cows are performing and also what bulls are clicking with different cows in terms of quality and liveweight gain.
The heaviest bull calf in 2020 weighed in at 306kg at 148 days old on 25 August 2020. He gained 1.75kg/day since birth. He is by QCD and out of a five-star Limousin x Dairy cow.
The autumn weighing also doubles up for a BEEP-S weighing. BEEP-S will bring in €7,180 to Tullamore Farm in 2020 and is a much-needed support to suckler herds all over the country.
In total, 91 cows and calves were weighed on the farm on 25 August 2020. While performance is on target, it is back a little on the 2019 weighing performance.
The target is to grow bull calves at 1.3kg/day up to weaning and grow heifer calves at 1.15kg/day up to weaning.
This year’s bull calves gained 1.22kg/day since birth, while the heifer calves gained 1.14kg/day since birth.
This Fiston-sired bull calf weighed in at 260kg at 132 days old, gaining 1.61kg/day since birth. He is out of a five-star Limousin-cross cow with a replacement index of €181, one of the highest index cows in the herd.
The target is to have bull calves at 305kg at 200 days and heifer calves at 270kg, so heifer calves are on target and the bull calves are about 14kg off where they should be.
We can’t pinpoint exactly why. More heifers were brought into the herd in 2020 and historically they have always weaned lighter calves, so this could be one of the reasons.
This Simmental heifer calf weighed in at 242kg at 149 days, gaining 1.34kg /day since birth. She is by SI4383 and out of a five-star Limousin-cross cow with a replacement index of €141.
Weanlings will be weighed again at housing to see if the trend is continuing or if it has corrected itself.
Tables 1 and 2 outline the performance of the 2020 batch of weanlings compared with the 2019 performance.
Table 3 outlines the different sire performance in 2020. The Dovea Genetics Simmental sire Cloondron Calling (QCD) and the NCBC sire Fiston (FSZ) were the top performers in 2020.
The four bulls at the bottom of the list are a little disadvantaged, as they were all progeny out of first-calved heifers.
Tables 4 and 5 take a look at the top-performing male and female calves in the herd.
Read more
In pictures: a busy week in Elphin Mart
Argentinian beef exports to stabilise as China continues to grow
Live winter finishing webinar on farmersjournal.ie
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