Farmer writes: Can Irish farmers multitask?

I read recently of something called the centipede effect. If a centipede had to think about moving all of its legs in the right order, it would freeze. I think the same applies to farmers.

There are a huge amount of decisions to be made on a daily basis and if we had to stop and think about them, all farms would cease to function.

It’s certainly true here. The farm cycle never stops. The selection of replacements process starts as soon as a heifer calf is born. Each heifer calf born here is a potential replacement and makes me jump my mind ahead. Nine months for working out winter housing arrangements, 15 months for breeding, two years for first calving. Which ones will stay? Is there any heifer calf showing up temperament problems? What cows are going to move on to make room? By breeding for smaller mature weight cows, can I get more output from the grass I grow?

There is currently a 60/40 split in favour of heifers. If I was dairy farming, there is no doubt that it would be the other way around.

By the last weekend in March, there were eight cows left to calve. There is a significant chance that those eight cows won’t be in the herd come October.

They received the same treatment as their contemporaries in the herd, yet can’t stick the pace. Potential replacement heifers received their BVD booster shot this week. One heifer acted up both times she was being vaccinated and as her full sister refused to take to her calf this year, she will be finished instead.

As it stands, there will be 21 heifers going to the bull. Breeding should begin within three weeks and, with luck, most of the heifers will have calved before the cows next spring.

The last of the heifers calved this past week. She was the only one not bulled in the first three weeks they were with the bull last year and is on the back foot in comparison to her comrades from last year. I visited a beef cow breeder in Kansas last April who bred his heifers for 24 days.

With the results from here, I’m sorely tempted to do the same. Of the 17 heifers with the bull last year,16 scanned in-calf with 15 in the first three weeks. Unfortunately, the foetus was dead in one at scanning and another had a calf three weeks premature in January.

Of the remaining 14 heifers,13 calved within three weeks. It’s not all straightforward though as two wouldn’t take to their calves and are now in the cull group. I thought it was unusual for the two heifers in question as they are from a strong maternal line.

Fertility

Fertility is the corner stone of the herd. The fertility figures within the eurostar ratings on the ICBF reports for the herd are being proved right.

Each heifer calf born puts pressure on the cows in the herd. Genetically, they are an improvement on their mothers.

So, I have no fear of calving extra heifers. With a once-calved heifer outlet, it’s proving beneficial. Heifers are judged less on how they look visually and more on their ability to go in calf. Scanning in the summer will reveal who is in-calf with those not in calf being finished.

The system run here is straightforward and long may it stay that way.