Silage season is in full swing here in Caithness. Many farmers, including ourselves, have chosen the mown grassland option within the agri-environment climate scheme (AECS). This means that the first date that silage can be cut is the 1 July.
We planned with the contractor to start in the first week of July, but patchy weather since the start of the month meant that we didn’t get to cut any grass until the 13 July.
After a short wilt, it was lifted on the 15th and ensiled in the pit. Between cutting later than planned and a very kind growing season, the pit has never been as full, a big difference to last year.
We are now on to making baled silage. So far, we have cut 33 acres and are sitting with 620 bales in the yard, a huge yield of grass.
There is also a re-seed to be cut that has Westerwolds through it
There is still another 45 acres to cut and it is looking like yields will be similar, so we should finish up with nearly double the silage bales we did last year.
There is also a re-seed to be cut that has Westerwolds through it. Unfortunately, conditions underfoot are too soft as it is a new sow out. We don’t want to be tracking it this early in its productive life.
Replacement heifers earmarked for the summer-calving herd.
Once the rest of the silage is off at home, we will get on with slurry and farm yard manure (FYM). The plan is to go out with 2,000 gallons/acre of slurry on as much of the ground as possible. Once the slurry is finished, the FYM will be used to cover the rest of the silage area.
Fertility
Since starting the programme, a lot of work has been done on soil fertility.
We mainly concentrated on liming, but there has been some phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) applied too.
This has improved productivity and there is far more grass available on the farm now.
Given that we have also taken more control over grazing management, grass performance has really improved.
Summer herd
The improved performance from grazing has allowed us to keep a lot more of our summer store calves to graze than we had previously.
This means come sale day at the end of the year, they will be a good bit heavier than previous years.
With that weight coming from grazing, it will not have cost us much to add those kilos.
There are 75 in total now, 15 stots (bullocks) and the rest heifers. Some of the heifers are being retained to join the summer calving herd.
Culled
Passengers are not permitted in the cow herd. Between the empties and those that have not performed as well as their peers, 15 cows in total are to be culled out of the summer calvers this years.
At the same time, 26 heifers have been selected to join the herd, meaning a small overall increase to this group.
The summer heifers have been with the Shorthorn bull since 22 July.
We like to keep a tight calving pattern, and this year, the spring replacement heifers were given seven weeks with the Shorthorn bull.
This should be more than enough to have them all in calf. Any that have failed to get in calf will be culled.
Bull
It seems we will have to go and look for another bull, as one of Charolais has damaged his hip.
This is rather disappointing, as he only came home in 2015, meaning that we have not even had four full seasons from him.
When we worked back his costs versus what we expect to get when we cull him, he has cost £50/cow bulled over his time in the herd. We would like to get a little more from our bulls, and see that cost reduced by £10-£20/cow.
Crops
The barley is also looking well this year. Last year’s trial with a higher nitrogen (N) rate on one field more than paid back in extra yield.
This year all of the barley got the higher rate of 120kg of N/ha. It also drove the straw yield in the treated field last year, so with a small carryover from last winter we are hoping not to need to buy too much straw this season.
This summer also sees us very busy off-farm. Earlier this month, Shona represented Shetland in badminton at the Island Games in Gibraltar. Next month Mark is off to Poland to compete in the badminton World Masters.
Adviser comment by Robert Gilchrist
One of our key aims across all of the farms is to have a tight calving spread. We have written several pieces detailing the benefits of this and in the article two weeks ago, Declan discussed how the Duguids are now down to an 11 week calving spread, with the aim to go to 10 weeks next year.
When we are looking at tightening the calving spread, as well as tackling the mature cow herd we also look at the replacement heifers. A mature cow has quite a long to-do list. She has to recover from pregnancy, she has to suckle her calf, she has to regain lost condition and once these aims are all satisfied, she finally has to consider getting in calf.
Bulling replacement heifers for six weeks as the Mackays are doing is a great way to expose those heifers that are less fertile
A heifer at the beginning of her productive life has a short to-do list – she has to continue / finish growing and get in calf. With this being the case, a replacement heifer should take very little time to get in calf.
Bulling replacement heifers for six weeks as the Mackays are doing is a great way to expose those heifers that are less fertile.
As an insurance against a few less fertile heifers, it is good practice to work with a larger number of replacement heifers than is actually required. Adding 10% extra heifers to the batch should give sufficient coverage.
When a heifer requires more than two cycles to get in calf it begs the question; “how long will she need the next time around?”
If it takes more than six weeks now, it will take even longer when she is a mature cow with a much larger task list.
Read more
Farm Profit Programme: positives to be taken from year two results
Greenvale farm: setting the bar higher each year
Silage season is in full swing here in Caithness. Many farmers, including ourselves, have chosen the mown grassland option within the agri-environment climate scheme (AECS). This means that the first date that silage can be cut is the 1 July.
We planned with the contractor to start in the first week of July, but patchy weather since the start of the month meant that we didn’t get to cut any grass until the 13 July.
After a short wilt, it was lifted on the 15th and ensiled in the pit. Between cutting later than planned and a very kind growing season, the pit has never been as full, a big difference to last year.
We are now on to making baled silage. So far, we have cut 33 acres and are sitting with 620 bales in the yard, a huge yield of grass.
There is also a re-seed to be cut that has Westerwolds through it
There is still another 45 acres to cut and it is looking like yields will be similar, so we should finish up with nearly double the silage bales we did last year.
There is also a re-seed to be cut that has Westerwolds through it. Unfortunately, conditions underfoot are too soft as it is a new sow out. We don’t want to be tracking it this early in its productive life.
Replacement heifers earmarked for the summer-calving herd.
Once the rest of the silage is off at home, we will get on with slurry and farm yard manure (FYM). The plan is to go out with 2,000 gallons/acre of slurry on as much of the ground as possible. Once the slurry is finished, the FYM will be used to cover the rest of the silage area.
Fertility
Since starting the programme, a lot of work has been done on soil fertility.
We mainly concentrated on liming, but there has been some phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) applied too.
This has improved productivity and there is far more grass available on the farm now.
Given that we have also taken more control over grazing management, grass performance has really improved.
Summer herd
The improved performance from grazing has allowed us to keep a lot more of our summer store calves to graze than we had previously.
This means come sale day at the end of the year, they will be a good bit heavier than previous years.
With that weight coming from grazing, it will not have cost us much to add those kilos.
There are 75 in total now, 15 stots (bullocks) and the rest heifers. Some of the heifers are being retained to join the summer calving herd.
Culled
Passengers are not permitted in the cow herd. Between the empties and those that have not performed as well as their peers, 15 cows in total are to be culled out of the summer calvers this years.
At the same time, 26 heifers have been selected to join the herd, meaning a small overall increase to this group.
The summer heifers have been with the Shorthorn bull since 22 July.
We like to keep a tight calving pattern, and this year, the spring replacement heifers were given seven weeks with the Shorthorn bull.
This should be more than enough to have them all in calf. Any that have failed to get in calf will be culled.
Bull
It seems we will have to go and look for another bull, as one of Charolais has damaged his hip.
This is rather disappointing, as he only came home in 2015, meaning that we have not even had four full seasons from him.
When we worked back his costs versus what we expect to get when we cull him, he has cost £50/cow bulled over his time in the herd. We would like to get a little more from our bulls, and see that cost reduced by £10-£20/cow.
Crops
The barley is also looking well this year. Last year’s trial with a higher nitrogen (N) rate on one field more than paid back in extra yield.
This year all of the barley got the higher rate of 120kg of N/ha. It also drove the straw yield in the treated field last year, so with a small carryover from last winter we are hoping not to need to buy too much straw this season.
This summer also sees us very busy off-farm. Earlier this month, Shona represented Shetland in badminton at the Island Games in Gibraltar. Next month Mark is off to Poland to compete in the badminton World Masters.
Adviser comment by Robert Gilchrist
One of our key aims across all of the farms is to have a tight calving spread. We have written several pieces detailing the benefits of this and in the article two weeks ago, Declan discussed how the Duguids are now down to an 11 week calving spread, with the aim to go to 10 weeks next year.
When we are looking at tightening the calving spread, as well as tackling the mature cow herd we also look at the replacement heifers. A mature cow has quite a long to-do list. She has to recover from pregnancy, she has to suckle her calf, she has to regain lost condition and once these aims are all satisfied, she finally has to consider getting in calf.
Bulling replacement heifers for six weeks as the Mackays are doing is a great way to expose those heifers that are less fertile
A heifer at the beginning of her productive life has a short to-do list – she has to continue / finish growing and get in calf. With this being the case, a replacement heifer should take very little time to get in calf.
Bulling replacement heifers for six weeks as the Mackays are doing is a great way to expose those heifers that are less fertile.
As an insurance against a few less fertile heifers, it is good practice to work with a larger number of replacement heifers than is actually required. Adding 10% extra heifers to the batch should give sufficient coverage.
When a heifer requires more than two cycles to get in calf it begs the question; “how long will she need the next time around?”
If it takes more than six weeks now, it will take even longer when she is a mature cow with a much larger task list.
Read more
Farm Profit Programme: positives to be taken from year two results
Greenvale farm: setting the bar higher each year
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