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With ground conditions improving over the past seven days, the muriate of potash is finally being spread on Tullamore Farm this week.
Some 80% of the farm is deficient in potassium (K) and the plan is to try and build this as quickly as possible.
It was hoped this would be spread earlier in autumn but ground conditions meant it had to wait.
It is being spread now as opposed to springtime due to the risk of high K levels in grass making cows susceptible to grass tetany.
Tetany has already been an issue last spring on the farm and this threat obviously needs to be avoided if at all possible in spring 2018.
The rate of spreading will be 1 bag/acre across 160 acres and it is costing €350/t. This will increase the fertiliser bill in 2017 by €2,800 but is necessary to lift the soil indexes and increase our 2018 grass growth.
Fencing is continuing on the farm over the past three weeks, with this TAMS II-approved fencing due to be finished in early January.
There are 50 cows and 60 weanlings currently grazing kale. In a bid to slow down the rate at which they are moving through the kale, one bale of silage is being fed/daily to each group.
One cow was taken off the kale last Saturday that looked dull and wasn’t eating. She had a temperature and was treated with antibiotics and has responded well to treatment. All cows on kale have received boluses and in-calf cows started on 100g/day of dry cow minerals two weeks ago.
Meal feeding
Good-quality baled silage is being held for the ewes when they are housed next week. With a lower-quality silage now being fed to cull cows and weanlings, meal feeding has been increased.
Cull cows are now being fed 7kg of ration/daily across two feeds. Bull weanlings are on 6kgs of weanling ration across two feeds.
Heifer weanlings are now on 3kg daily across two feeds. All weanlings have been treated for lice and worms with a pour-on product.
No fluke dosing has taken place, with faecal samples and blood samples coming back clear. More samples will be analysed in January to see if a fluke dose is required. A low level of rumen fluke was detected in some of the samples but vet Donal Lynch advised that dosing was not required.
Ewes
Some 70 ewes will be housed this week, with the remainder housed over Christmas.
These will be housed in a straw bedded shed and fed the best-quality silage (71DMD). Concentrate feeding will start with the ewes in mid-January.
Farm manager
Having spent the past 10 months in the role of farm manager on Tullamore Farm, Ger O'Dwyer has decided to move on to pursue other interests.
Ger had the task of overseeing all the work which has been completed over the past 10 months while the farm underwent its set-up for the years ahead and the management team would like to wish Ger the best of luck in his future career.
This now means there is a position available for a full-time farm manager on Tullamore Farm. The farm will need a person in place in advance of calving and lambing.
Calving is due to start on 1 February with lambing due to start on 25 March. Next year will see 100 cows calving on Tullamore Farm and 170 ewes lambing.
The farm manager will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the herd and driving both the physical and financial performance of the farm.
The role will also involve facilitating discussion groups and hosting visiting groups on the farm. This is an excellent opportunity for someone to progress their managerial career and work as part of a high-performance team. Closing date for applications is Monday 15 January 2018.
For further details on the position see www.farmersjournal.ie/toplink
Tullamore Farm: BDGP tagging, dosing and a bull with a broken leg
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