Heat detection and breeding are the key focus for autumn-calving participants in the Dairylink Ireland programme at present.

A summary of submission rates on these farms has been included in the weekly table at the bottom of this page for the past two weeks.

The first figure shows how many cows have been served since the start of the 2019 breeding season. The second figure is the number of cows that are currently deemed eligible for service.

Submission rate is an important benchmark for the Dairylink farmers who are aiming to improve herd fertility

On most farms, eligible cows have passed the usual voluntary waiting period of 42 days, although some programme farmers serve cows before the six weeks post-calving mark.

Submission rate is an important benchmark for the Dairylink farmers who are aiming to improve herd fertility and workload management by tightening their calving spread.

The main fertility benefit of compact calving is that any cows that are slow to get in-calf either leave the herd or don’t breed replacements

There are other useful benchmarks too, such as in-calf and empty rates, but if a cow or heifer is not served, then there is no chance of her going in-calf and starting a lactation in nine months’ time.

At this stage in the season, autumn-calving farmers are therefore focused on serving as many eligible cows as possible.

The main fertility benefit of compact calving is that any cows that are slow to get in-calf either leave the herd or don’t breed replacements.

It also means that more cows are coming on heat in a shorter time frame, which makes heat detection easier. This has a knock-on effect on improving herd fertility too.

A range of heat detection methods are used on Dairylink farms, from visual observation, to tail paint, to pedometers.

Most programme farmers started heat detection ahead of the start of breeding so that any eligible cows that had not cycled could be examined by a vet.

Tighter profile

As the weekly production table shows, half of the phase two Dairylink farmers are aiming for tighter autumn-calving profiles, namely Stephen Wallace, Richard Marshall and James King.

James Martin operates an all year-round calving system and the majority of Frank Goodman’s cows calve down in the spring. The final phase two farmer, John Oliver, is in the process of switching from autumn- to spring-calving.

Farmer focus: Stephen Wallace, Seaforde, Co Down

The 2019 breeding season started on Stephen Wallace’s farm on 4 December. On Tuesday 17 December, 71 cows were past the voluntary waiting period and 38 of them had been served so far.

Getting cows in-calf is the most important job of the year on the Wallace farm. The calving profile has tightened significantly over the past year and Stephen wants to keep the momentum going for the 2020 calving season.

Calculations carried out by Dairylink Ireland adviser Aidan Cushnahan last week found that it costs Stephen £2.99/cow/day for every day that a cow has an extended calving interval over 365 days.

It was calculated on a CAFRE spreadsheet and was based on figures such as calving index, average cull cow price, heifer-rearing costs, milk price, peak yield and meal price.

Fertility service

At present, average calving interval on the Wallace farm stands at 400 days and Stephen is focused on reducing this further. He has started using a service from his AI company which gives full responsibility of detecting heats and inseminating cows to an AI technician.

The Wallace farm is busy at present between calving, calf rearing, milking early-lactation cows and the winter feeding routine.

An AI technician touches up tail paint and serves cows once a day.

With only two full-time labour units on the farm, Stephen sees the breeding service as an investment as it frees up time for other tasks and gives him reassurance that breeding work is being done properly.

Tail paint is being used as a heat detection aid and the AI technician visits the farm after morning milking each day to assess and touch up tail paint and inseminate cows.

There are 123 early-lactation cows going through the parlour on the Wallace farm at present. Calving is ongoing and should be finished up in February.

Calves in the main calf shed are usually kept in individual pens until weaning. The shed is airy and well ventilated but can be cold at night, so jackets have been put on calves to allow them to use more energy for growth instead of using it to keep warm.

Bull calves are generally sold in the local mart at two or three weeks of age and 36 heifer calves have been weaned off milk replacer so far.

After weaning, heifer calves are moved to group pens.

These calves have been moved to a straw-bedded shed and are in groups of 12. They are being fed concentrates in troughs at 2-3kg/calf/day and have access to straw through a feed rail.

Calves that are still on milk are consuming 900g/calf/day of milk replacer over two feeds.

The calf shed is airy but can be cold at night, so calf jackets are used.

The high feed rate can lead to nutritional scour issues and Stephen has been vigilant for any signs of scour, although there have been no issues this year so far.

In short

  • Breeding is in full swing in autumn-calving herds on the Dairylink Ireland programme.
  • Heat detection and breeding are the two most important jobs of the year on dairy farms.
  • A summary of submission rates on Dairylink farms is given in the weekly production table.
  • A cow with a calving interval over 365 days costs Stephen Wallace £2.99/cow/day.
  • Farmers need to be vigilant for nutritional scour if calves are consuming higher rate of milk replacer.
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