It was a textbook week on Tullamore Farm weather-wise. Temperatures were good and there was just enough rain to keep things going. Grass growth is up again and the farm grew 65kg/DM/ha over the last seven days. Demand is currently running at 45kg/DM/ha/day, so there’s an opportunity to build some grass, with good growth rates taking place. The heaviest covers are around 1,600kg/DM/ha, which is ideal for the time of year.
Clover has started to dominate some of the swards in Cloonagh.
Clover has really started to kick in, especially on the drier paddocks on the out-farm in Cloonagh. Lambs are grazing ahead of cows and calves are also creep-grazing ahead of cows. This is being done by lifting the temporary strip-wire that Shaun uses to split paddocks. A trough is placed in the paddocks adjacent to where cows are grazing and meal is fed in troughs daily.
The electric fence is raised to allow calves to creep-graze ahead of the cows.
Bulls and heifers were split up this week. All calves had been receiving creep since drought hit the farm in June, however with bulls and heifers now split, the plan is to keep feeding bulls but stop feeding the heifers until closer to weaning. The farm is participating in the BEEP-S scheme, which means calves are required to be meal-fed for four weeks pre-weaning and two weeks post-weaning.
The cows are then used to clean out the paddock, before moving on to the next one.
Other jobs
Sheds are currently being power-washed and disinfected on the farm. This is a big job, but farm manager Shaun Diver says it’s worth it.
“We try and have the sheds clean and dry for the month of August every year. This allows sun and wind into the sheds, which our vet Donal Lynch says is the best disinfectant of all”.
Finishing lambs are grazing ahead of the cows and bull calves. The calves can creep out with the lambs to access the best grazing.
There are currently two bulls left from the 2019 crop of under 16-month bulls. It’s been a difficult year for bulls again. While performance has been good, beef price isn’t where it needs to be to deliver a positive margin on a per head basis. A review of the current 16-month bull system is scheduled to take place in August. Other options that will be looked at include producing weanlings for sale at nine or 10 months. The issue with this system is generating enough output per cow, selling weanlings between 300-400kg. The other option would be a system finishing steers at 22-24 months and continuing to sell heifers for breeding, although this would mean reducing cow numbers. Over the coming weeks, we will look at the options on the beef pages of the Irish Farmers Journal.
Lame lambs
There has been an increase in the instances of scald in the lambs over the last couple of weeks. It is quite surprising to see, as lambs are grazing very leafy swards. Usually, scald occurs in dry spells or when grass is stemmy. There is quite a heavy cover of clover when lambs enter a paddock and perhaps this is causing irritation to the foot.
Shaun has been footbathing with zinc sulphate to try to get ahead of the problem.
“I have footbathed the ram lambs for three days in a row and that seems to have sorted them. We need to do the same with the ewe lambs now, to prevent any slowdown in growth”.
Read more
Beef management: time to introduce the creep feeder for weanlings
Quotes continue to creep up despite factory efforts
Way Out West: sucklers and sheep in south Roscommon
It was a textbook week on Tullamore Farm weather-wise. Temperatures were good and there was just enough rain to keep things going. Grass growth is up again and the farm grew 65kg/DM/ha over the last seven days. Demand is currently running at 45kg/DM/ha/day, so there’s an opportunity to build some grass, with good growth rates taking place. The heaviest covers are around 1,600kg/DM/ha, which is ideal for the time of year.
Clover has started to dominate some of the swards in Cloonagh.
Clover has really started to kick in, especially on the drier paddocks on the out-farm in Cloonagh. Lambs are grazing ahead of cows and calves are also creep-grazing ahead of cows. This is being done by lifting the temporary strip-wire that Shaun uses to split paddocks. A trough is placed in the paddocks adjacent to where cows are grazing and meal is fed in troughs daily.
The electric fence is raised to allow calves to creep-graze ahead of the cows.
Bulls and heifers were split up this week. All calves had been receiving creep since drought hit the farm in June, however with bulls and heifers now split, the plan is to keep feeding bulls but stop feeding the heifers until closer to weaning. The farm is participating in the BEEP-S scheme, which means calves are required to be meal-fed for four weeks pre-weaning and two weeks post-weaning.
The cows are then used to clean out the paddock, before moving on to the next one.
Other jobs
Sheds are currently being power-washed and disinfected on the farm. This is a big job, but farm manager Shaun Diver says it’s worth it.
“We try and have the sheds clean and dry for the month of August every year. This allows sun and wind into the sheds, which our vet Donal Lynch says is the best disinfectant of all”.
Finishing lambs are grazing ahead of the cows and bull calves. The calves can creep out with the lambs to access the best grazing.
There are currently two bulls left from the 2019 crop of under 16-month bulls. It’s been a difficult year for bulls again. While performance has been good, beef price isn’t where it needs to be to deliver a positive margin on a per head basis. A review of the current 16-month bull system is scheduled to take place in August. Other options that will be looked at include producing weanlings for sale at nine or 10 months. The issue with this system is generating enough output per cow, selling weanlings between 300-400kg. The other option would be a system finishing steers at 22-24 months and continuing to sell heifers for breeding, although this would mean reducing cow numbers. Over the coming weeks, we will look at the options on the beef pages of the Irish Farmers Journal.
Lame lambs
There has been an increase in the instances of scald in the lambs over the last couple of weeks. It is quite surprising to see, as lambs are grazing very leafy swards. Usually, scald occurs in dry spells or when grass is stemmy. There is quite a heavy cover of clover when lambs enter a paddock and perhaps this is causing irritation to the foot.
Shaun has been footbathing with zinc sulphate to try to get ahead of the problem.
“I have footbathed the ram lambs for three days in a row and that seems to have sorted them. We need to do the same with the ewe lambs now, to prevent any slowdown in growth”.
Read more
Beef management: time to introduce the creep feeder for weanlings
Quotes continue to creep up despite factory efforts
Way Out West: sucklers and sheep in south Roscommon
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: