The conversion works we have going on here are a nice distraction from the drought, which has us in the same boat as most of the country’s farmers. While we are only feeding silage to one group of cattle and have fared out better than most so far, I’ve noticed that the weather at the moment has a huge effect on your mentality.
I’ve found the best method of dealing with that is talking to other farmers and through my discussions realised that almost everyone is facing the same struggles. Hopefully it will break soon and give us some long deserved respite. No doubt, 2018 will go down as a year to remember when it comes to the weather!
Silage
We have 30ac of second cut silage closed for five weeks and there is only a cover of about 700 on it. With only 60% of our winter silage requirements made so far we are considering alternative options. We set rape at the end of July last year and got a five-month winter for 70 heifers by supplementing it with meal and silage.
This year, we will hold off for a few days to see if a change is coming, if not, we will go ahead and sow redstart on 12ac of the milking platform that was earmarked for reseeding. We will use this to prolong the grazing season and stretch our silage supplies.
Grazing lambs
The 30ac we reseeded in May is now being grazed by our weaned lambs. We opted for a post-emergence spray but, despite my best attempts to spray late in the evenings, on the hot days the weed kill would be best described as average.
From a distance I was not very happy with the lamb crop, but when we had them in the yard for a dose and a bolus I was pleasantly surprised. Lameness is higher than we would like – the long headed out grass doesn’t seem to be doing them any favours, so we are foot-bathing them any time they are in the yard.
It’s a pity in such a challenging year there isn’t some more willpower from the processors to hold the price!
We will send our first draft next week, but unfortunately this corresponds with the annual price drop from the factories. It’s a pity in such a challenging year there isn’t some more willpower from the processors to hold the price!
Construction
Stock work over the last two weeks was restricted to the bare minimum as we had a team of diggers and dumpers in constructing new cow roads. We also had an ESB crew in moving poles and providing us with a new three-phase connection and our builders arrived to break ground on the new milking parlour.
The floor of the new parlour on the farm of Dara Killeen in east Co Galway. \ Dara Killeen
While each crew is well capable at their respective jobs, you need to be on hand to coordinate and make decisions. This takes a bit of getting used to as you don’t always know the answer to the question.
A quick phone call to someone more knowledgeable or ask someone on Twitter and you will have the answer. It is better to wait and have the correct solution than to do the job, change your mind and have to spend time and money redoing something.
The drought provided ideal conditions for road construction
The landscape of the farm has now changed as we have laid 1,500m of roads. Most of the internal sheep fencing has to come down as we will need to change the paddock layout and set up a single strand electric fence.
On a positive note, I must admit that the drought provided ideal conditions for road construction. The roads are 15ft wide around the yards and taper in on the longer runs - this width should speed up bringing cows in and out for milking. All of those few minutes will add up over the next 40 years, or so.
New roadways on the farm of Dara Killeen in east Co Galway. \ Dara Killeen
Next on the list is a water system – as the existing half inch piping is not fit for purpose anymore, we are leaving this work to the professionals. If the last few weeks have taught us anything it is the importance of water to stock in hot weather! We are installing 40mm piping and 300 gallon troughs. With a new well bored recently, water is one thing we will not have to worry about going forward.
On a final note, my first breeding season is complete. We did six weeks of AI followed by three weeks with bulls and we will scan the heifers in mid-August. The heifers are currently grazing some rougher ground along the river Shannon. In previous years this ground would have been baled for hay, but we are very lucky to have it in reserve for this exceptionally challenging summer!
Read more
Farmer Writes: early bird catches the worm
Watch: farmers face ‘beast from the east’
Farmer Writes: spring grass worries after a long winter
The conversion works we have going on here are a nice distraction from the drought, which has us in the same boat as most of the country’s farmers. While we are only feeding silage to one group of cattle and have fared out better than most so far, I’ve noticed that the weather at the moment has a huge effect on your mentality.
I’ve found the best method of dealing with that is talking to other farmers and through my discussions realised that almost everyone is facing the same struggles. Hopefully it will break soon and give us some long deserved respite. No doubt, 2018 will go down as a year to remember when it comes to the weather!
Silage
We have 30ac of second cut silage closed for five weeks and there is only a cover of about 700 on it. With only 60% of our winter silage requirements made so far we are considering alternative options. We set rape at the end of July last year and got a five-month winter for 70 heifers by supplementing it with meal and silage.
This year, we will hold off for a few days to see if a change is coming, if not, we will go ahead and sow redstart on 12ac of the milking platform that was earmarked for reseeding. We will use this to prolong the grazing season and stretch our silage supplies.
Grazing lambs
The 30ac we reseeded in May is now being grazed by our weaned lambs. We opted for a post-emergence spray but, despite my best attempts to spray late in the evenings, on the hot days the weed kill would be best described as average.
From a distance I was not very happy with the lamb crop, but when we had them in the yard for a dose and a bolus I was pleasantly surprised. Lameness is higher than we would like – the long headed out grass doesn’t seem to be doing them any favours, so we are foot-bathing them any time they are in the yard.
It’s a pity in such a challenging year there isn’t some more willpower from the processors to hold the price!
We will send our first draft next week, but unfortunately this corresponds with the annual price drop from the factories. It’s a pity in such a challenging year there isn’t some more willpower from the processors to hold the price!
Construction
Stock work over the last two weeks was restricted to the bare minimum as we had a team of diggers and dumpers in constructing new cow roads. We also had an ESB crew in moving poles and providing us with a new three-phase connection and our builders arrived to break ground on the new milking parlour.
The floor of the new parlour on the farm of Dara Killeen in east Co Galway. \ Dara Killeen
While each crew is well capable at their respective jobs, you need to be on hand to coordinate and make decisions. This takes a bit of getting used to as you don’t always know the answer to the question.
A quick phone call to someone more knowledgeable or ask someone on Twitter and you will have the answer. It is better to wait and have the correct solution than to do the job, change your mind and have to spend time and money redoing something.
The drought provided ideal conditions for road construction
The landscape of the farm has now changed as we have laid 1,500m of roads. Most of the internal sheep fencing has to come down as we will need to change the paddock layout and set up a single strand electric fence.
On a positive note, I must admit that the drought provided ideal conditions for road construction. The roads are 15ft wide around the yards and taper in on the longer runs - this width should speed up bringing cows in and out for milking. All of those few minutes will add up over the next 40 years, or so.
New roadways on the farm of Dara Killeen in east Co Galway. \ Dara Killeen
Next on the list is a water system – as the existing half inch piping is not fit for purpose anymore, we are leaving this work to the professionals. If the last few weeks have taught us anything it is the importance of water to stock in hot weather! We are installing 40mm piping and 300 gallon troughs. With a new well bored recently, water is one thing we will not have to worry about going forward.
On a final note, my first breeding season is complete. We did six weeks of AI followed by three weeks with bulls and we will scan the heifers in mid-August. The heifers are currently grazing some rougher ground along the river Shannon. In previous years this ground would have been baled for hay, but we are very lucky to have it in reserve for this exceptionally challenging summer!
Read more
Farmer Writes: early bird catches the worm
Watch: farmers face ‘beast from the east’
Farmer Writes: spring grass worries after a long winter
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