Having cows in the right body condition is key before calving and after calving. I have heard of a number of farmers surprised at the condition that autumn calving cows are in at grass this year, especially in the north-west of the country. It’s too late to take any corrective action for cows calving in the next month, but body condition scoring winter-calving cows should be carried out as soon as possible to make sure corrective action can be taken in good time and avoid any calving difficulty.

Post-calving nutrition is also important in terms getting cows back in-calf. With concentrate prices almost double what they were last year, there will be a tendency to pull back on meal feeding levels this winter.

Autumn-calving cows are not the group to do this with, unless silage quality is very high. Make sure that condition is maintained or you will delay resumption of cycling and extend calving intervals.

It’s too late to take any corrective action for cows calving in the next month, but body condition scoring winter-calving cows should be carried out as soon as possible

Kieran Mailey goes through some tips on autumn breeding and getting it right. Declan Marren details what the autumn-calving cow needs in terms of nutrition over the next few months.Supplementation will be expensive, so it’s important to get it right.

Heat detection can be difficult in an indoor situation. While allowing calves to only suck twice a day is labour intensive, farmers that practice it swear by it to get cows back in-calf.

We also take a look at important deadlines coming up for the BEEP and BDGP schemes. BDGP and BEEP make up an important part of suckler farm income, so it’s crucial that you have all the boxes ticked for payment to be released in December.

Declan also takes a look at some breed analysis he completed as part of the THRIVE programme in relation to dairy beef breeding.