Things have been quiet on Tullamore Farm for the past two weeks. Cows have all been batched in pens according to calving date. The first cows are due to clave on 1 February so they will receive their scour vaccine on 2 January.

Cows will be divided in two groups, with those that are later-calving getting their vaccines in mid-February.

Cows are currently being fed average quality silage to maintain condition. A group of first-calved heifers are on high quality silage. These heifers were penned separately as they are a little below target in terms of body condition score and will be monitored to make sure they improve. February-calving cows will be moved to a slatted shed with access to a straw bedded area after Christmas.

Cull Cows

A group of cull cows are due to be slaughtered in early January. These cows have been housed on peat for eight weeks now and while the peat is starting to get a bit wet looking, cows are spotless and seem to be very happy on it.

The final group of dairy beef heifers are also due to be slaughtered over the next two weeks. So far these heifers have averaged 255kg carcase weight, graded an O+ 3+, and achieved an average price of €3.96/kg. As a group they will struggle to leave a positive margin.

Redstart

Suckler weaning heifers continue to graze the crop of redstart and interval. Farm manager Shaun Diver is really happy with the grazing and so far there have been no major problems to report. Heifers were weighed on Monday 17 December and averaged 340kg. Having started to graze the redstart in early November this figure represents a weight gain of .9kg/day which is better than expected.

Ewes continue to graze off some of the wetter paddocks and will be scanned and housed in early January.