Autumn calving started over a month ago and is now in full swing.

So far it has all gone smoothly, with over forty cows calved. At the time of writing, I have only had to give assistance on a couple of occasions.

A fair bit of sexed semen was used last year at the start of breeding, and this has resulted in a good run of heifer calves.

To the start of last week there were only four Holstein bull calves, although a few more have since appeared with cows now calving to conventional semen.

An easily calved heifer calf is the best possible way for a young first calver to start off the lactation.

The only downside to large numbers of heifer calves all coming together is that it puts a bit of pressure on the calf house.

Low group

During the wet weather at the end of August the low group were kept in full time, but with better weather returning at the start of the month, this group have gone back out to grass during the day.

The parlour is set to feed this group above 10l and at night they are on third-cut silage and 2kg blend.

It can be very easy to lose body condition at this time of year

Despite what the grass boffins tell us, I think autumn grass is of very little feed value.

It can be very easy to lose body condition at this time of year, especially if the cows are still giving any amount of milk.

I would go as far as to say that once we pass mid-July, freshly calved cows on this farm should be kept in the house.

This is the first year that I haven’t let the high group out at all, and I believe they are in better condition and milking better at this stage than other years.

Boost

Milk price is still lagging way behind where it needs to be, however, we are getting a good boost in price thanks to decent milk solids.

At the last test, butterfat was 4.27% and protein was 3.51%, which equates to well over 2kg milk solids per cow.

This is ahead of last year and hopefully is the result of being more selective, both in terms of sires used and culling policy.

Silage

Other than some bales to mop up extra grass, silage has all been made for the year.

A break in the weather in early August gave us a chance to harvest wholecrop rye, and at the same time, we were able to get third cut grass in as well.

This went on top of the wholecrop while the silo was open, and will keep it well compacted.

This silo was opened at the start of September, and first impressions are that the third cut is good

However, I would prefer it to be in a silo by itself, as feeding out is dictated by the depth of the wedge and how quickly the silage on top is being used.

This silo was opened at the start of September, and first impressions are that the third cut is good and intakes seem to be improving.

This week, we managed to get the wholecrop in the pit, so we will soon move fresh calvers onto their winter diet of first cut silage and wholecrop.

Reseeding

After a disappointing August, the weather seems to have settled this month, thankfully, giving us a chance to get reseeding done and slurry tanks emptied before the winter work really starts.

The plan is to get 15ac reseeded this week.

Despite my reservations about grass quality at this time of the year, it will still be great to be able to keep dry stock out for a while yet.

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