After a difficult spring, management practices in the Newford herd, located in Athenry, Co Galway, are getting back on track.

Grass growth rates have improved to above 70kg DM/ha and with demand in the region of 55kg DM/ha, grass supplies are resuming to where they need to be for the main grazing season. It’s also providing the potential to replenish fodder reserves by taking surplus grass out of the rotation.

Breeding started

Breeding started on 30 April with the aim of bringing the calving date one week forward in 2017 (starting 13 February 2017). Farm manager Matthew Murphy reports a quick start, with over 30 cows served to the end of last week and a further 22 up until Wednesday morning, bringing the total now served to 52 cows.

Two vasectomised bulls are running with the herd and this, along with tail painting, is greatly aiding heat detection for AI.

Cows are being observed for about 20 minutes at five periods throughout the day, with Matthew reporting most activity early in the morning or before nightfall. The greatest activity to date has, not surprisingly, been with mature cows that are longest calved and run in one group.

The other group consists of first- and second-calvers and late-calving cows, which Matthew reports are getting preferential treatment by moving on to fresh paddocks without being forced to graze the paddocks overly tight.

This is being carried out to ensure nutritional intake in these animals that may be under greater nutritional stress is not compromised (preventing any knock-on effects on reproductive performance).

AI will last for seven weeks, followed by stock bulls cleaning up any repeat breeders for four weeks. Cows are being artificially inseminated once a day at midday by a commercial AI technician, to reduce labour in herding cows to the yard morning and evening.

Three AI sires are being used. Gamin (ZGM), a Limousin sire with less than 5% calving difficulty is being used on first- and second-calvers. Two Charolais sires, Fiston (FSZ) and Carrickbrack Hutch (CKH) – with calving difficulties of 6.9% and 6.5% respectively – are being used on mature cows in the herd.

Replacement heifers that were recently sent to a contract rearer are also breeding well (16 artificially inseminated) and are being served to the Limousin sires Elderberry Galahad (EBY) and Towthorpe Dubai (THZ), two easy-calving sires (3.6% and 4.6% respectively) with a reliability of 98%.

Open day

The Newford Herd opens to the public with a national open day on Wednesday 25 May. The project, run by Dawn Meats, Teagasc and the Irish Farmers Journal, with McDonald’s also providing backing to the initiative, will give visitors a chance to see firsthand the production system, grassland management, breeding and much more. A full preview will be detailed in the coming weeks.