Weather

It’s very much a tale of two halves on the weather front at the minute. Farmers in the west and north of the country are seeing heavy rain quickly make ground conditions sticky, while there are still farmers in the south and east in moisture stress.

Farms facing wet weather are arguably in a worse off position. Reports from farmers suggest that some level of damage is being done by stock, while grass is running through stock due to grass being both wet and leafy, especially where aftergrass or paddocks that were topped are being grazed.

In this situation, young or finishing animals will struggle to get enough dry matter into them for growth, so supplying concentrates to maintain liveweight gain would be a wise choice, especially ahead of weaning spring born calves.

Calves can be fed 1-2kg of meal in a trough through creep grazing, while older stock close to finishing can be fed on a roadway or yard to prevent poaching.

If stock do have to be temporarily house, be cautious of the risk of pneumonia. Avoid housing wet cattle, try to keep air moving through the shed and avoid any major stresses on calves.

Purchasing cattle

Weanling trade is ramping up at the minute, with each passing week seeing more and more calves hitting mart rings. Trade is vibrant, with exporters and farmers battling against each other to secure numbers.

With purchasing younger animals comes the associated health risk. Weanlings are entering marts and being mixed with cattle from other farms, and are then likely mixing with even more cattle when purchased.

Combined with the associated stress of transport, a weanling’s immune system is lowered at selling/purchasing time. This makes them more susceptible to health issues, the primary one being pneumonia.

When weanlings are purchased, they should be housed in an airy, well-bedded shed and offered concentrates and fodder and allowed to rest and acclimatise before turning back out to grass.

No vaccinations should be complete until stock have been allowed to acclimatise.

Scanning and empty cows

Word from scanners is that despite a tough spring and breeding window, scanning results are generally positive across the board. The decision a lot of farmers now have is what to do with empty cows or heifers.

Mart trade for nearly all types of stock is excellent at the moment, so empty stock can be quickly offloaded where cash is needed on-farm. It is worth remembering that those partaking in the beef welfare scheme must feed concentrates to calves for four weeks before and two weeks after weaning.

If concentrates have not yet been purchased and meal feeding hasn’t commenced, then sellers will have to wait at least four weeks before selling empty cows.

Suckler to weanling producers may also consider holding over empty cows until the spring and fattening indoors. This is a good option from a cash flow point of view, as it will give a much needed cash injection in spring.