Good year for animal performance in Cork

Ger Dineen

Co Cork

I have most of my silage made at this stage. My first-cut came in earlier than usual this year and quality should be much improved.

Rain is needed at the moment down here as some ground is starting to suffer from drought, but I am still okay for grass.

All calves are grazing ahead of the cows and I am allowing cows to graze as tight as possible behind them, down to 3.5cm.

I am spreading about 20 units of 24:2.5:5 plus sulphur after each grazing. I plan to take my breeding heifers to the outfarm soon to after-grass and possibly take out a paddock or two of strong grass before the forecast rain arrives to drive regrowth.

My stock are thriving well also at the moment. My last weighing showed my bulls at 224kg and heifers at 226kg, although my heifers are on average older than my bulls.

Average daily gain is 1.32kg/day for the bulls and 1.28kg/day for the heifers. There is a large difference between the best and the worst stock, with the best bulls averaging 1.54kg per day versus the heifers averaging 1.02kg per day.

Over 300 days, this works out at 190kg, which at a liveweight value of €2.30/kg, equates to €359 between the two animals. It’s something that all farmers should pay more attention to when selecting sires and deciding which cows to cull.

My breeding heifers are thriving well and have gained 0.97kg per day since birth, weighing 538kg at present.

Bull and heifer calves will be separated soon also and grazed in separate groups with their mothers. No creep is fed to any calves here until they are weaned.