We had a short winter in Courtmacsherry this year. It was on a Thursday in January. A flurry of snow arrived in the afternoon at 1.30pm and was gone before 2pm.
Spring has been a little more challenging, though not as bad as places west of here.
In fairness, I was set up much better this year through some strategic planning. I waited last year until 6 May before starting breeding.
The pressure was building
Every year I had been telling myself that I had an early farm and therefore should start calving early. Then nearly every year I end up with calves arriving in January, loads of work overhanging after Christmas and rushing to sort spaces for calves and fresh cows.
All the talk is about being first at grass, or 50% calved, even the price got for the early bull calves.
Anyone who was reading my articles last spring will have seen the pressure I was under. In fact it was probably tougher than I portrayed.
Autumn calving in 2015 had gone well but I hadn’t put enough effort into the spring cow condition scores. Spring 2016 became a nightmare of just trying to keep on top of things.
The weather forced me to keep stock housed and the fact I hadn’t enough silage reserve didn’t help matters either. On top of that, I had an outbreak of crypto in the calves to further increase the workload.
Switching to once-a-day milking this time last year was what finally released the pressure valve. It allowed the cows build condition for breeding and allowed me time to think again.
To be honest, the last thing on my mind was targets
This year there were six cows in a hurry to calve before the due date of 11 February. We reached the point of 50% calved 11 days later on 22 February and were at 70% at the three week past due date mark. By six weeks, 90% were calved, leaving only a few stragglers to finish after a nine-week breeding season.
I was probably hitting good targets last year too but I hadn’t the time to calculate them. To be honest, the last thing on my mind was targets.
This year everything was ready. The grass, the silage, the calf house, the cows, and, much more importantly, me.
When all is said and done, the most important target we can all have for spring is to come through it unscathed mentally. The second grazing round starts Monday, breeding can wait until May again.