Grazing: It’s been a stop/start couple of weeks for grazing. On most farms, it’s stop/stop as opposed to stop/start. OK, the weather hasn’t been brilliant, but then again, it very rarely is in early spring. The reality is that early spring grazing is a challenge, even on relatively dry farms.

I get the feeling, rightly or wrongly, that some just aren’t up for the challenge and instead opt for the shed and silage. The risk of damaging land is often used as a reason. That’s fair enough, but how many of the farmers who say this can also say that 100% of their land is at optimum levels of soil pH, let alone at index three for P and K.

Poor soil fertility is a neglect of land. Any land damaged in early spring heals quickly and the returns are massive in terms of animal performance and setting the farm up for excellent grass quality when cows are in peak milk. Early spring grazing is one of the few tools in our basket to lower costs, so it should be grasped with both hands. Letting cows out for two to three-hour breaks a day will minimise damage. So, too, will correctly allocating grass (see online articles), using a back-fence and using spur roads.

The cost of not getting grass into cows is enormous, as it takes months for protein per cent in milk to recover after prolonged feeding of silage in spring, compared to cows offered grass in spring. If looking to upskill in grazing management, contact your Teagasc adviser.

Calves: A couple of farmers are asking about the age that calves can be sold at. There have been no changes implemented as of yet, and calves can be moved off a holding from 10 days of age. There are proposals to increase this and to also increase the age at which calves can be exported. At the moment, calves must be 14 days of age before they can be exported. Farmers have no business bringing a calf less than 14 days of age to the mart, as exporters won’t buy them. Exporters are increasingly looking at weight, rather than just age, with 50kg liveweight the new benchmark for calves destined for the boat.

Smaller calves of whatever breed will take longer to reach this weight, but sending them to the mart at less than this weight will reduce the chances of getting someone to buy that calf. There’s huge scrutiny on calves and calf welfare. An RTÉ Prime Time programme last year showed undercover footage from farms and marts. Farmers just cannot show any complacency around calf welfare.

Milk price: The medium-term outlook for milk price continues to be uncertain. The Global Dairy Trade price continues to recover, but the spot market price in Europe has been struggling. The increase in European prices prior to Christmas was driven more so by reductions in supply, rather than an increase in demand. Demand is still weak, particularly in China, and if supply in Europe and New Zealand increases, then the dynamics could change again. This is something farmers need to keep in mind when working on financial budgets.

Higher milk prices aren’t guaranteed, so farmers need to continue to work on reducing costs as a means of increasing profit. It’s always better to budget conservatively on milk price and if it’s higher, all the better.