Preparation and organisation are key to a successful calving season. Looking for ropes when the first feet of 2025 appear probably isn’t the best possible start. Make sure there are ample supplies of gloves, lube gel and iodine. Are all lights working in the calving pens and are there suitable gates to restrain a cow in the event of a Caesarean section? Have calving pens been cleaned out and disinfected and is there enough straw for the calving season? Have you drawn up a list of the due dates for your cows. Have you given a scour vaccine to cows if needed? Have you condition-scored your suckler cows and managed accordingly?

January is the perfect month for taking soil samples. Getting the samples analysed and not using the information is useless. If you haven’t taken soil samples recently, get them taken in the next few weeks before any fertiliser is applied to fields. Aim to take one sample for every 5ha of land. A tightening up in fertiliser regulations means that farmers need to prove that they need to spread phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) on their farm. The only way you can do this is to take soil samples and prove that your land is deficient in P and K. Get your adviser to draw up a fertiliser plan for your farm. This way, you will know what fertiliser to spread on different fields and you will also have the peace of mind that you are staying within the fertiliser regulations in terms of fertiliser purchases.

With cattle housed a little later than normal in 2024, it means some farmers haven’t got around to dosing for fluke yet. Once animals have been housed eight to 10 weeks or more, products that only kill mature fluke can be used. Vets have been advising that due to mild damp conditions this autumn, fluke could be an issue on some farms, so it’s important to address any issues as soon as possible. With animals housed a few weeks, lice issues can start to accelerate at this time. With mild weather over the past few weeks, sheds have provided ideal conditions for lice to take hold. Clipping animals can help reduce heat stress in sheds and can also help to keep cattle cleaner when tails are clipped. Pour-ons are easy to use, but be careful: use gloves and measure correct amounts when applying.

If a weighing scales is available on the farm, mid-winter is a good time to assess performance of weanlings on the farm. Weanlings should be gaining between 0.6 and 0.8kg/day and poor weight gains could point to health issues in animals or insufficient supplementation. Is silage quality up to scratch? Poor thrive could also be due to underlying pneumonia issues because of poor ventilation. Take a look at lying space, feeding barriers and drinkers in the shed to make sure there is nothing limiting intakes. Make adjustments and if animals are behind target, try and target these for early turnout if possible.

Take a look around the yard to see if there are any health and safety issues. Review your health and safety statement and make sure everybody involved in the farm is familiar with it. Make a list of items that need attention and make time to attend to the little jobs that never get done. Can water be diverted from a yard area to prevent yard freezing over and causing a slip or fall? Is all health and safety signage in place around the farm? Once calving and lambing start, it’s a busy time so use the quiet month of January to get these jobs done.

January is a good time to take action if you think silage stocks are going to run low. Measure your pit or count your remaining bales to see what fodder is left. Taking action now; feeding straw or concentrates could help alleviate the problem on a gradual basis rather than facing a severe shortage in March or April. Can finishing animals be put onto ad-lib meals to reduce silage usage? While meal is more expensive on a per-tonne basis, it could be cheaper in the long run as opposed to feeding very poor or very wet silage. Plan for early turnout if silage stocks are very low.