Genotyping: There continues to be issues and delays with the genotyping programme. Having toured the facilities earlier this week it’s fair to say that there will always be some issues with the process as reading 55,000 genes per DNA sample is complex, involves multiple stages and takes time for the process to work.
That’s not to absolve the lab of all responsibility, human error is a factor in some of the issues, as it is with any process.
The key thing from the farmer’s point of view is to post the samples regularly and use the correct pink envelope.
Some samples go missing in the post, so the more samples per envelope, the greater the loss if an envelope does go missing.
Do not use paper envelopes for either BVD or DNA samples as these get damaged in the mail sorting centres.
When the sample gets to the lab, the process begins, so the sooner it gets to the lab the sooner the result will be known and the card will be issued.
There will be delays with some samples.
The way the lab operates is that samples are pooled together when they arrive in the lab and are then split into batches for testing.
So even if you post 20 samples together, they could end up in two or three different testing batches at the lab. If one of those batches has to be retested for whatever reason, the results for the other samples will be out quicker and it could be three or four days later for the other results to be out.
That is frustrating, but unfortunately it is an element of the programme. If the sample is 10 days in the lab, the blue card will be issued automatically.
Grazing: High pressure is building out at sea so hopefully we are in for a spell of dry weather as we move towards March.
The last two weeks have been tricky and farmers have been struggling to get cows out for any period at all and those that have them out are doing so for short periods.
If some settled weather does come, the priority must be to get cows out.
Silage is a really poor-quality feed and middling-quality maize is not much better. There was a lot of poor maize grown last year.
Fodder beet is a much higher-energy feed, but will still need some grass in the diet to balance the protein side. I’d always be wary of committing to buying bulky feed at this time of year because there is plenty of grass on farms and if the weather comes right there will be opportunities to graze it. Then you could be left with the feed, or be feeding it when you should be grazing.
Now, there is a lot of road to run yet this spring so nobody knows what the weather will be like over the coming weeks. If fodder beet is €60/t and 19% dry matter (DM), that’s €316/t DM which is a bit cheaper than meal on a DM basis and similar quality.
However, you need a way of feeding beet out and it needs to be built up slowly. If buying maize make sure and get it tested for starch as this determines the energy levels.
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