With breeding just around the corner on Tullamore Farm, attention has now turned to getting cows and heifers prepared. All calved cows received a vaccination for BVD and leptospirosis this week.

As is the case with many farmers across the country, sourcing a leptospirosis vaccine was difficult and we subsequently didn’t get enough for 30 cows. Thirty older cows were left without the vaccine as a result.

The window of cover should still last for another six months in these cows, however, which should hopefully give us time to get them done. Each cow received a mineral bolus while going through the crush too.

Ahead of AI, cows also had to be re-tagged with Moocall heat tags. The technology in the tag has changed since last year’s breeding season so we received replacement tags for each animal last week. The original tag was removed and the new tag was punched into the same hole.

Breeding is due to start on 1 May. Teaser bulls went out on Wednesday to help check breeding activity and to give us an indication of when to expect their next heat.

With the cows coming in, we also took the opportunity to get a treatment into the calves too. The strongest 40 calves got their first shot for IBR and their second shot of Bovipast.

There are four cows left to calve and these are expected to be finished up within the next 10 days.

Grass

Average farm cover is currently at 685kg DM/ha. It’s not worryingly low, but it has slipped significantly.

Farm manager Shaun Diver pointed out that if growth rates do not pick up in the next week, there is a strong likelihood that cows will have to be slowed down in their rotation.

This can be done by entering some of the silage ground or allocation some silage as a buffer.

Looking ahead to the weekend, we are hoping it won’t come to that though. With moisture in the ground since Monday and with temperatures forecast to rise significantly, there is widespread expectations that growth rates will climb. If so, we should hit magic day (when growth surpasses demand) before 1 May.

If this is the case, all remaining silage ground will be fully closed and grazing covers will be closely monitored for the opportunity to take out surplus paddocks.

Sheep

On the sheep side of the enterprise, lambing is also complete with only four left to lamb. Lambing has gone very well and looking out across the fields, lambs appear to be thriving very well.

We had a setback on Sunday night when three ewes were lost to grass tetany. Mineral buckets were with the group but to try to avoid a repeat of this, concentrates will be provided to ewes on any nights when conditions are forecast to be bad.

Ewes are now grazing alongside the cows. Mixed grazing worked very well on the farm last year.

We have to be vigilant, however, that as sheep graze under a wire ahead of cows, the volume of grass in paddocks is significantly lower by the time cows get to it. Residency time in paddocks is much shorter as a result, so careful forward planning is essential.