Grass growth on the the farm has continued to push on, with 80kg/DM/ha growing on the farm over the past seven days. With demand running at 40kg/DM/ha/day, this has presented challenges in terms of maintaining quality in the swards. Three paddocks have been skipped this week and these paddocks will be mowed today, Wednesday 16 May, and baled on Friday 18 May.
20 acres of silage will be mowed on Wednesday 16 May and baled on Friday 18 May. This will hopefully mean the farm will have some very good-quality bales of silage for ewes and weanlings in winter 2018/2019. Five acres of paddocks that have become too strong will also be taken out as bales this week.
Grass growth on the the farm has continued to push on, with 80kg/DM/ha growing on the farm over the past seven days. With demand running at 40kg/DM/ha/day, this has presented challenges in terms of maintaining quality in the swards. Three paddocks have been skipped this week and these paddocks will be mowed today, Wednesday 16 May, and baled on Friday 18 May.
20 acres of silage will be mowed on Wednesday 16 May and baled on Friday 18 May. This will hopefully mean the farm will have some very good-quality bales of silage for ewes and weanlings in winter 2018/2019. Five acres of paddocks that have become too strong will also be taken out as bales this week.
20 acres of silage will be mowed on Wednesday 16 May and baled on Friday 18 May. This will hopefully mean the farm will have some very good-quality bales of silage for ewes and weanlings in winter 2018/2019. Five acres of paddocks that have become too strong will also be taken out as bales this week.
They are estimated to yield five to six bales/acre and should make some real top-quality silage. With good growth conditions forecast, it is likely there will be more paddocks to take out next week as well. Cows and sheep have now started to graze together and will continue to do so for the rest of the grazing season. Two strands of electric fence have been added to existing fences to prevent sheep from entering adjacent paddocks.
Four strands of wire have been erected between paddocks to allow sheep and cattle to graze together.
Four strands of wire have been erected between paddocks to allow sheep and cattle to graze together.
Reseeding
12 acres where the kale was grown last year were reseeded 10 days ago. This was ploughed, power harrowed and planted using a one-pass system. A mix of Aberchoice, Abergain, Drumbo and Dunluce were used and the field received three bags of 0:7:30 at sowing time. The seed has struck and it's hoped it will be ready to graze with weaned lambs in six weeks' time.
The 12-acre paddock where the kale was grown was reseeded 10 days ago, with seed just starting to appear this week
The 12-acre paddock where the kale was grown was reseeded 10 days ago, with seed just starting to appear this week
Breeding
Breeding is progressing well, with 52/85 cows bred over the past 19 days and 9/15 heifers bred, leaving a 61% submission rate in 19 days.Vasectomised bulls fitted with the new mooheat technology are being used to aid heat detection. A chin ball is also fitted to the bull to mark cows on heat. The only issue with the mooheat technology is where there are two cows in heat but the bull stays with one cow and doesn’t leave her. Cows are still being checked early in the morning, midday, early evening and late evening. Cows are being inseminated at midday each day on a once-a-day AI programme. The two stock bulls have been fertility tested and are fine. The Limousin bull was turned out with nine late-calving cows this week and the Angus bull will be turned out with the heifers at the weekend.
Health issues
Calves have been coughing a little and faecal samples were taken this week to determine any worm burdens present. Lambs will get their first dose at the end of this week. They will also receive an oral cobalt drench. One calf was taken in from the field with a navel infection and has responded well to antibiotic treatment.
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Watch: Tullamore farm breeding heifer sale
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