General Detail
- Scanning took place on Tuesday – 93 out of 99 cows scanned in calf (4 culls not bred)
- 64 cows held to first service, 18 went to second service and two bulls served 11 cows over a 10 week breeding season
- Matthew carried out all AI on the farm using teaser bulls as heat detection
- Cull cows will be identified i.e. empty/poor calves/bad udders now and weaned early in September. These will be sold/slaughtered after weaning - we will be building grass as a priority for finishing cattle and weanlings for the autumn.
- Contract reared heifers scanned 23 out of 26 in calf. 22/23 held to first service over a 6 week breeding period.
- The weanling bull calves that were castrated last week have had no problems.
- Utilisation of grass has been excellent all spring/summer. However 130mm (5 inches) of rain fell in July towards the end of the month.
- Silage again delayed due to weather but will be removed on Monday 7th August
Teasers worked well for heat detection
- Weanling bulls and heifers are performing well with an average daily gain of >1.2kg/day
- The steers and heifers are gaining 0.92 kg and 0.98kg/day since turnout out on the 14th March
Rainfall 2017
Grassland Details
- Target pre grazing paddocks at 1450 Kg DM (kg DM/Ha).
- To view our grass measurement report log onto www.pasturebase.teagasc.ie and click Newford Farm on the drop down menu.
Key recommendations for this week
- Start feeding concentrates to heifers and steers identified for finishing off grass