On the cattle side of the enterprise, all spring calves received a white-drench lungworm dose today (Wednesday). These calves were previously treated for worms five weeks ago.
It is standard practice to give at least two worm treatments to all spring calves over the course of their first grazing year, but due to the increased worm burden stemming from drought and subsequent rain on bare ground, another worm treatment is now a priority for these young stock.
All spring calves received a white-drench lungworm dose today (Wednesday) on Tullamore Farm.
Aside from the calves, dairy heifers are also due to be weighed. These heifers were purchased in spring 2017 as a means of stocking the farm.
Twenty of the strongest are receiving 5kg/head/day of ration and will be slaughtered off grass. The remaining 40 lighter heifers are on 3kg/head/day and will be slaughtered before Christmas.
Lambs
Lambs continue to be drafted for slaughter on a weekly basis. The most recent draft was a batch of 24 lambs last Thursday. They averaged €105 per head. This also brings the number of lambs slaughtered on Tullamore Farm this year to 105.
On average, lambs are being drafted at 45kg liveweight, but handling for fat cover is also a key factor in drafting.
The average carcase weight so far is 20.14kg. Lambs are grading well at an average R3, and only nine lambs out of 105 killed over-fat at a fat-score of 4.
Ewe lambs and ram lambs
Ewe lambs and ram lambs have recently been split to target their different feeding requirements. Ram lambs are receiving 0.5kg/head/day of lamb pellets to help build fat covers, while ewe lambs are only receiving 0.25kg/head/day of pellets to encourage growth. Forty-five ewes, with a BCS 2.5 or lower, have also been separated from the main group and are now on a higher plain of nutrition to build BCS.
Heifer calves on Tullamore Farm.
Grass growth
Grass growth has really kicked off in the last seven days on Tullamore Farm. Last week’s growth rate of 43kg DM/ha/day was disappointing, but this week the farm is back up to a substantial growth of 70kg DM/ha/day.
Average farm cover is 790kg DM/ha, which is still slightly lower than the optimum, but in the coming days a bag of CAN/acre will be spread to further push grass growth in an attempt to build covers for the back-end.
With the increased growth, some paddocks are getting strong for grazing.
Topping will be carried out on paddocks that haven’t been fully cleaned off, while come covers of 2,000kg DM/ha and higher will be skipped and taken out for silage bales.
These silage bales will be placed in the field of Redstart. Thirteen acres of Redstart were sown on 8 August and this will be used to feed weanling heifers for the majority of the winter.
With the increased growth, some paddocks are getting strong for grazing
With Redstart, 30% of the diet must be in the form of silage, so bales saved now will be placed in a line across the field to match the strip-grazing structure that will be implemented during the winter. The Redstart received 2.5 bags of 18:6:12 before sowing and it is now starting to appear through the soil.
Third-cut silage is performing extremely well also. The second cut was harvested on 3 August and was taken up immediately afterwards for another crop. It received 2,000g/acre cattle slurry and two bags of CAN and is earmarked for cutting around 10 September.
Emptying the yard and farm walks
The yard on Tullamore Farm is almost empty, which has provided an opportunity to carry out some running repairs and to power-wash all sheds for the winter.
Last week, Tullamore Farm hosted two mini farm walks, which covered all areas of the farm's system, the breeding policy, under 16-month bull beef, grassland management, fodder and the sheep enterprise.
Due to the increased worm burden stemming from drought and subsequent rain on bare ground, another worm treatment is now a priority for the spring calves.
The walks were targeted towards smaller groups to allow for more discussion among attendees. This certainly turned out to be the case with lot of interesting discussion and questioning on the various stands.
Read more
Growth slowly recovering on Tullamore Farm
BETTER farm: getting on top of IBR
Lots to consider as growth rates climb
On the cattle side of the enterprise, all spring calves received a white-drench lungworm dose today (Wednesday). These calves were previously treated for worms five weeks ago.
It is standard practice to give at least two worm treatments to all spring calves over the course of their first grazing year, but due to the increased worm burden stemming from drought and subsequent rain on bare ground, another worm treatment is now a priority for these young stock.
All spring calves received a white-drench lungworm dose today (Wednesday) on Tullamore Farm.
Aside from the calves, dairy heifers are also due to be weighed. These heifers were purchased in spring 2017 as a means of stocking the farm.
Twenty of the strongest are receiving 5kg/head/day of ration and will be slaughtered off grass. The remaining 40 lighter heifers are on 3kg/head/day and will be slaughtered before Christmas.
Lambs
Lambs continue to be drafted for slaughter on a weekly basis. The most recent draft was a batch of 24 lambs last Thursday. They averaged €105 per head. This also brings the number of lambs slaughtered on Tullamore Farm this year to 105.
On average, lambs are being drafted at 45kg liveweight, but handling for fat cover is also a key factor in drafting.
The average carcase weight so far is 20.14kg. Lambs are grading well at an average R3, and only nine lambs out of 105 killed over-fat at a fat-score of 4.
Ewe lambs and ram lambs
Ewe lambs and ram lambs have recently been split to target their different feeding requirements. Ram lambs are receiving 0.5kg/head/day of lamb pellets to help build fat covers, while ewe lambs are only receiving 0.25kg/head/day of pellets to encourage growth. Forty-five ewes, with a BCS 2.5 or lower, have also been separated from the main group and are now on a higher plain of nutrition to build BCS.
Heifer calves on Tullamore Farm.
Grass growth
Grass growth has really kicked off in the last seven days on Tullamore Farm. Last week’s growth rate of 43kg DM/ha/day was disappointing, but this week the farm is back up to a substantial growth of 70kg DM/ha/day.
Average farm cover is 790kg DM/ha, which is still slightly lower than the optimum, but in the coming days a bag of CAN/acre will be spread to further push grass growth in an attempt to build covers for the back-end.
With the increased growth, some paddocks are getting strong for grazing.
Topping will be carried out on paddocks that haven’t been fully cleaned off, while come covers of 2,000kg DM/ha and higher will be skipped and taken out for silage bales.
These silage bales will be placed in the field of Redstart. Thirteen acres of Redstart were sown on 8 August and this will be used to feed weanling heifers for the majority of the winter.
With the increased growth, some paddocks are getting strong for grazing
With Redstart, 30% of the diet must be in the form of silage, so bales saved now will be placed in a line across the field to match the strip-grazing structure that will be implemented during the winter. The Redstart received 2.5 bags of 18:6:12 before sowing and it is now starting to appear through the soil.
Third-cut silage is performing extremely well also. The second cut was harvested on 3 August and was taken up immediately afterwards for another crop. It received 2,000g/acre cattle slurry and two bags of CAN and is earmarked for cutting around 10 September.
Emptying the yard and farm walks
The yard on Tullamore Farm is almost empty, which has provided an opportunity to carry out some running repairs and to power-wash all sheds for the winter.
Last week, Tullamore Farm hosted two mini farm walks, which covered all areas of the farm's system, the breeding policy, under 16-month bull beef, grassland management, fodder and the sheep enterprise.
Due to the increased worm burden stemming from drought and subsequent rain on bare ground, another worm treatment is now a priority for the spring calves.
The walks were targeted towards smaller groups to allow for more discussion among attendees. This certainly turned out to be the case with lot of interesting discussion and questioning on the various stands.
Read more
Growth slowly recovering on Tullamore Farm
BETTER farm: getting on top of IBR
Lots to consider as growth rates climb
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