Weather conditions

Monday’s and Tuesday’s rain has made grazing conditions difficult, especially in the west. Where cows still have to be weaned, try and complete on a phased basis on dry days. Housing cows and leaving weanlings outdoors for another two to three weeks could be a good option. Weanlings will be lighter and will do less damage.

Heavy finishing cattle are better off housed at this stage, especially if grazing very wet areas. Feed the best-quality silage and up the meal levels to maintain performance once housed. Continental steers should go onto 5-6kg of meal along with silage to get the desired level of finish. Good finishing rations should be able to be purchased at €230-260/t bulk delivered. Look for a high cereal content in finishing rations. Handle the cattle to assess finishing time and be careful with dosing and withdrawal dates.

Vermin control

As weather conditions deteriorate, rodent and vermin control becomes an issue on farms. This coincides with animals being housed and animal feed being stored in sheds. Typical signs of rodent infestation include rat or mouse droppings around feed stores, gnawing and chewing of materials in sheds, footprints in soft material such as clay, or holes or burrows in soil around the yard. Rodent infestation poses both an animal health risk and a human health risk. Always wear gloves when handling poison bait and when working in areas where rodents are present.

If you are not using purpose-built bait boxes, bait should be covered to stop other animals from ingesting it. Remove dead rodents and replenish bait on a regular basis. Record its usage in your Bord Bia Quality Assurance plan. Rodents can also appear in the house as the central heating comes back on. Make sure you have blocked as much access as possible. A rat can fit through a gap the width of your thumb (13mm) while a mouse can fit through a gap the width of a pencil (6mm). If vermin issues persists after 35 days of active control, other control measures should be looked at.

BDGP and BEEP-S

There is one week left to fulfil the requirements for both BDGP and BEEP-S. You must have 50% of the reference number of animals for your herd genotyped four- or five-star on the replacement index by 31 October 2020. The ICBF has posted BDGP eligibility reports over the last week. Make sure you are cleared for payment in December.

The scheme has received funding for 2021 and the same conditions are likely to be attached with a possibility of having a higher target at the end of 2021, eg 60% of cows four- or five-star. Anybody wishing to leave the scheme at the end of 2020 will be able to do so.

Under BEEP-S, all weights must be submitted and dung sampling completed by 1 November. This is an optional measure and if chosen you need to take 10 dung samples from cows and send them for analysis to an approved lab to get the €10/cow payment.