Farmer focus: Jonathan Blair, Ballykelly, Co Derry

Breeding has been progressing well on farm and like last year, cows are being bred to a combination of AI and stock bulls.

In total, there are 93 cows and heifers being served, with the breeding period starting on 16 May. This breaks down to 24 homebred heifers and 69 cows.

All of the heifers, plus a group of eight cows, are being bred to AI with Givendale Black Resolution being the sire used.

Black Resolution is a proven bull with good calving ease, along with excellent growth traits. Cows and heifers are being served to natural heats, but to aid heat detection, I am using the Moocall heat system.

Heat detection

This is my second year using it and it works extremely well. It works by putting an electronic tag in the cow’s ear, with a teaser bull wearing a collar. The teaser bull is a homebred animal that was castrated purposely for this role.

The collar picks up the ear tag of any cow spending an extended time period in close proximity to the bull. A text message is then sent to my phone with the cow’s number.

All of the AI group is being grazed on an outfarm with good handling facilities. Paddocks surround the yard and there is a good laneway, making it easy to move animals in and out for AI.

AI timing

We are bringing the group in once a day for insemination, usually around 11am.

We tend to bring all of the group in as it is much easier to separate the heifers for inseminating in the yard, rather than the field. So far, all 32 animals in the group have been inseminated at least once, with 11 animals served for a second time.

My plan is to keep using AI for another three weeks, to give a total breeding period of nine weeks.

Cows

The cows are running in three groups with one Angus bull and two Stabiliser stock bulls. Bulls also went out to the cows on 16 May and there was plenty of breeding activity over the first four weeks.

However, I have noticed less activity of late, which I am hoping is a good indication of cows being settled in-calf. Cows will get 10 weeks with the bulls.

All cows and heifers being bred are on a grass-only diet, with minerals supplied through lick buckets.

Earlier start

We started the breeding period around one week to 10 days earlier this year, as I want to pull calving forward to start in late February.

With the new cattle shed, we have good facilities for pre- and post-calving management. Another reason is to suit the bull beef finishing system.

An earlier start means more calves at heavier weights when housing, thereby shortening the indoor finishing period.

This year, calving started on 7 March and was finished in nine weeks and five days, with 80% of cows calved inside five weeks.

Only three calves were born in May. Pulling calving forward should mean that all calves are born by the end of April, freeing up time for fieldwork at this time of year.

Culling

For the first time since joining the programme, we are in a position where we can cull out older cows and animals with poor performance.

Prior to this, we were firmly in expansion mode, so only cows that lost a calf or scanned empty were being culled.

Five cows have been pulled out and are being grazed separately from the main herd. All five cows have a calf at foot and will be culled once weaned.

There are also three cows grazing with these animals that lost a calf at calving time. They will be culled once they are fleshed.

Young bulls finished one month earlier

All of the 2018 spring-born bull calves have been killed over the last week of May and first week of June.

There were 14 bulls in total and they averaged 374.9kg deadweight at 14 months of age. The bulls were predominantly Stabiliser-bred. The Angus male calves were finished as steers as they benefit from the premiums from the breed scheme.

Three bulls were U grading, with the other 11 animals hitting R grades. Fat class was good, with several bulls at 3+.

The group had a lifetime daily carcase gain of 0.77kg/day and were finished around four to six weeks ahead of last year, which is a big saving on concentrates.

Also, as beef prices slipped in June, I am pleased that bulls were killed earlier. Bulls only went on to ad-lib concentrates at the end of March.

They were previously on 9kg/day from January to March and 4kg to 5kg/day from housing last autumn.

Stores

Store cattle are at grass and were weighed in mid-June when they were wormed.

A group of 11 bullocks averaged 450kg and have gained 0.8kg/day since turnout in early April. There were 10 heifers averaging 400kg and have gained 0.74kg/day since turnout. These animals are on a grass-only diet, but I did bolus them to see if there is any improvement in weight gains during the second grazing season.

The stores tend to hold a dry coat of hair, so hopefully the bolus prevents this with improved mineral supplementation.

Six heifers were sold live last week to ease the pressure on grazing ground. The heifers were Angus-bred and averaged 400kg when sold.

All stores are now grazing silage aftermaths to try to boost weight gains over the summer. The plan is to graze these animals into autumn and finish by December.

Calves

This year’s calves have also been wormed with Noromectin pour-on and received the first vaccine shot for Blackleg. The booster shot will be given in late July.

Calves weighed close to 125kg on average when wormed. Once the stock bulls are removed from cows in August, calves will be split into groups based on male and female animals.

At this point, creep feeders will be introduced to bull calves to push weight gains before housing.

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