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HERD UPDATE 24.02.2020

General Detail

  • Newford Farm is two thirds of the way through calving at the moment
    • 66 cows out of 99 in-calf animals (67%) have calved up to 24th of  February
    • There is no calving difficulty to report on the farm at the moment
    • There are 65 live calves on the ground including two sets of twins
    • The average calf birth weight is 37kg
    • The average calving score for the herd so far is 1.3
    • There has been three cases of mortality
  • The following table details the average birth weight and calving scores to-date:
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  • All of the main herd is in-calf to Charolais sires as follows:
    • Fiston (FSZ)
    • Hideal (HJD)
    • Bivouac (CH 2218)
  • First calvers are in-calf to the Limousin sire Ewedenvale Ivor (LM 2014)

Weather woes

  • Like many farms across the country, Newford will struggle to get stock out early to grass due to the high volume of rainfall and challenging ground conditions
  • The below table shows the amount of rain that has fallen so far this year
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Forage update

  • The suckler herd is almost five months housed now and there is roughly a month’s supply of silage available on the farm.
  • As such the farm will be very dependent weather and ground conditions improving in early March or silage will have to be purchased
  • This time last year Newford Farm had 62 cows and calves at grass
  • The first of the calves are being disbudded as they come of age and are also being treated for the prevention of coccidiosis. Calves will be ready to be turned out once conditions allow.

Grass performance

  • Soil temperature on Newford Farm on Monday 24th February was 6.8 ° degrees at 10cm soil depth. This increased from 5o last week.
  • The average farm cover and growth in the last week across the different grazing blocks is as follow;
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*Cover carried out on the 18th of February

  • Newford Farm is closed to groups / visitors until the calving period is finished.

Key recommendations for this week

  1. Monitor all cows.
  2. Make initial enquiries to purchase silage.
  3. Prepare for disbudding calves as they come of age.
  4. Order vaccinations for clostridia, IBR and coccidiosis prevention.
  5. Watch out for any health issues in cows.
  6. Check the health of new-born calves each morning and evening.
  7. Treat the navel’s of new-born calves a number of times.
  8. Keep all tagging and birth registration information up to date.
  9. Keep all footbaths full with disinfectant at entry points to sheds.
  10. Check all water troughs are clean in the pens regularly.
  11. Monitor condition of in-calf heifers.