We have a small number of cattle left to buy and with a quick glance through mart prices I am left asking myself what am I thinking? If there was ever an eternal optimist it must be us beef finishers.

The industry is still in crisis and difficulties remain in getting cattle killed. We have no idea what direction we should be heading towards. Should we be finishing bullocks, heifers, bulls or maybe cull cows is where the profits are?

All said, we shall stick to the old reliable; the continental bullock. Thus where the problem arises; these are at present commanding the usual high price. The weight range of a steer we will be purchasing is from (520-550) kilos and are currently making anywhere between €1,100-€1,300. I will find it very difficult to part with last year’s humble profits to buy these expensive animals in order to just keep the grass down. So we have decided this year to reduce stocking rate slightly and complete as much reseeding as possible. This will leave the farm better set up for possible expansion of numbers in the future.

On the farm this week, the workload has moved from the yard to the fields. Five tonne of fertilizer was spread on Wednesday. This was an array of different compounds as we try to build soil fertility. Pasture sward went onto any paddock that did not receive the earlier Urea or CAN. I spread this at three bags per acre. 18-6-12 went onto one paddock that has been performing extremely poorly which I soil sampled before applying the fertiliser. 0-7-30 was spread on the red clover, which has really taken off this week. Sulfacan was applied to any fields that got a heavy application of FYM in the Autumn time.

On the grass front, I have a good supply of grass ahead of the ewes and lambs and I hope to weigh some lambs in the next week to see how they are performing. The oldest lambs are a month old and it will be a good reflection on the amount of milk the ewes are producing. The cattle have between 7 and 10 days of the first rotation remaining depending on weather conditions. They seem to have gone through the first rotation quicker than previous years. I am not sure if this is down to the dry matter of the grass being lower due to the wet or the actual weight of the animals been higher. I feel they look more forward then previous years.

The farm should be set up to grow grass when growth really takes off.