The Newford Suckler Demonstration Herd is in its 9 month in Athenry Co.Galway. At the moment there are 89 cows and their calves in the herd and it’s made up of mainly AA cross and HE cross cows which are first cross from the dairy herd. Also on the farm are 40 store animals ( 10 steers and 30 Heifers ) and 25 replacement heifer calves. The herd is running on a 55.8 hectare farm in three divisions. Over half the farm has been reseeded since the programme started. Varieties sown include
- Aber Choice
- Aber Gain
- Aber Green
- Glenveagh
- Tyrella
- Dunluce
- Drumbo
- The stocking rate on the farm at the moment is 2.76 L.U per Ha. The average growth rate on the farm on Tuesday the 29th September was 79kg/DM/day and the farm demand was 39kg /DM/day and the pre grazing covers are currently at 1600kgper Ha
- Out of the 89 cows that were bred in 2015, 82 have gone back in calf. Synchronisation and A.I was used at the start and the 2 stock bulls ( Charolais and Simmental ) were used after that. The bulls were removed from the herd on the 30th July.
- The average calf weight was 260kgs on 14th September with an average daily gain of 1.20 Kgs from birth. The male calves weighed in at 266 Kgs and the female calves were 256 Kgs.
- The male calves were castrated on the 18th September and weaning of both the male and female calves will begin on the 3rd of October and will continue over a period of 6 weeks to prevent too much stress on the calves . Meal has been introduced to the calves in the fields within the last two weeks.
- All the calves are to receive their vaccinations for pneumonia ( Pasteurella and IBR) in the coming days
- The 40 store animals consisting of 10 steers and 30 heifers have been getting on average 5kg of meal and some of them will be sold off grass within the next 6-8 weeks. The average weight of steers is 522 kg and the heifers is 458 kg