As the last days of August came around and the forecast started to look more favourable, the cattle received their marching orders from the shed after their brief all-inclusive indoor holiday.

They were certainly glad to get out, wet ground and all, wasting no time before heads were down munching their fill. Heaven forbid if we had to round them up again for AI or veterinary treatment as I don’t think any amount of ration would cajole them back inside having been fooled once before.

The better conditions also allowed us to complete our second cut silage and we were pleasantly surprised that all was done with little to no tracking of the fields. While it’s only a modest 20 bales, it’s better to be looking at it instead of looking for it.

It seems everyone in Leitrim had the same idea and for those dry sunny days the countryside was alive with the sound of tractors mowing, raking and baling as it seemed like every field with grass long enough to cut was mowed. Even some which had likely never seen a baler before didn’t escape as farmers took pre-emptive action in case of a long winter.

Weanling sales have started off with a bang and many of the shows and sales across the country have been watched with interest online, with the quality on offer being outstanding for the most part.

Suckler farming often gets discredited for being unproductive when compared to other sectors but it remains a vital part of many communities where sheep or dairy is unfeasible. There’s an enormous amount of resilience in suckler farmers (this could also be termed stubbornness) and year after year we do what we can with what we’ve got.

But when so much time and effort has gone into rearing a suckler calf to sell in the autumn, there’s only so many years of bad prices that a farmer can take before being fed up and left feeling underappreciated and overworked.

Optimism

While we have yet to pass our herd test, it’s certainly uplifting to see the trade for cattle has remained strong despite the adverse weather. In years like this it can be more like a vocation than an occupation and to see top prices being achieved by farmers provides optimism.

Breeding has almost finished up here for the year, though as I write this I can spy a cow out the window being followed around by two hopeful looking bulls. Time will tell with her and the only other cow not yet served. She is the oldest cow in the herd and picked up a shoulder injury in late July. While she’s not shown heat, she has been gazing longingly over the fence at the two aforementioned bulls so perhaps she’s letting us know that this time she’d prefer a more natural service.

It’s also time to start thinking about putting a ring into our Limousin bull as he’s just about to turn a year old. He’s not shown any signs of being temperamental so far, but it’s always best to avoid a problem before it has a chance of occurring.

While he was housed in mid-August we had a heifer repeat and we decided it was time for Umha, as the bull is known, to get some experience.

The cow certainly wasn’t the most interested party in the proceedings as she stood munching on a bale of hay while he duly obliged at the task at hand, before wandering off afterwards for a satisfied snooze.