Beef farmers in some of the drier areas of the country have been cautiously letting stock out in small numbers this week, or are hoping to do so in the coming days. It really is amazing how much ground can soak out once rainfall subsides for a few days in a row, though we are not out of the woods just yet.
Prioritising what stock to turn out is hugely important where we are only letting a small number out. First calved suckler heifers are probably top of the list, and even at grass I would encourage feeding some level of concentrates to prevent cows going into a negative energy balance as much as possible.
When turning out spring calving cows, you must always be conscious of grass tetany, especially when we are getting some cooler nights, meaning supplementation must be provided.
Where silage ground is located within reach of the yard, aim to get this grazed off first for fear weather conditions would turn and delay closing this up for silage, or not getting it grazed ahead of closing.
Fertiliser
Fertiliser should also at be the front of the mind as ground conditions improve. Supply and pricing could be heading in to murky waters, so get enough into the yard to complete the first two round of grazing ground and to cover you for first cut silage. Apply 20 units/acre on any ground yet to receive any slurry this spring, with some earlier spread ground also fine to spread.
Ken Gill – Clonbollogue, Co Offaly
We are herd testing this week, so I am hopeful that next week I will get the autumn born calves weaned and out to grass.
They are currently on grass by day in paddocks close to the shed. 20 in-calf heifers were turned out 10 days ago to ensure that silage ground was grazed off, and these will likely go back in for a little while once weanlings are turned out.
This grass only silage ground then will receive 3,000 gallons slurry/acre, with the plan being to cut in mid to late May. The red clover ground won’t receive any slurry until after the first cut.
The yearling stores are still inside, but I would be hopeful to have these out as well in the next two weeks. They will get a run over the stubble ground to get them settled and clean it up ahead of ploughing.
System Organic suckler to beef
Soil Type Variable
Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 411
Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 2
Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 2
Niall O’Meara – Killimor, Co Galway
All cattle went out this week. The autumn calving cows along with their calves and any breeding heifers are all in one group and are grazing by day in one mob. With no heifers having been turned out earlier in the spring, I’m anxious to get silage ground grazed off quickly to allow me to spread slurry back on this and get it closed up for first cut silage.
Cattle have access to silage at night in the shed, with calves having access to their own silage and 1kg/head of concentrates in the creep area. These will be weaned in April.
Three more wetter paddocks were spread with slurry last week as tanks were full, with some slight damage done as a result.
With a good cover of grass on the farm, I will hold off on spreading any fertiliser on paddocks until I get them grazed off.
System Suckler to beef
Soil Type Variable
Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 780
Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 8
Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 15
Peter Doyle – Derrypatrick Herd, Co Meath
First-calved heifers are our priority stock to get out to grass. We try and get two warm, dry days to allow calves to acclimatize, and with Tuesday and Wednesday of this week good we turned out any first calvers with their calves Tuesday morning.
These first calvers are receiving 2kg/head/day of concentrates at grass to keep energy levels up and get them back cycling quickly. We also turned out 14 mature cows with some of the earliest born calves.
We are hoping to get yearling cattle out to grass next week, with the aim being to graze off silage ground with the heaviest covers on it. We likely won’t get all silage ground grazed. We will spread half a bag of urea/acre on ground with good grass cover or 2,500 gallons slurry/acre on ground with low covers/ indexes across most of the farm next week.
System Suckler to beef
Soil Type Variable
Farm cover (kg/DM/ha) 690
Growth (kg/DM/ha/day) 8
Demand (kg/DM/ha/day) 4
SHARING OPTIONS