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Irish Examiner

Signpost: Bulls ahead of target as fodder budget, barley and breeding fall into place

The first half of the bulls finished at under 16 months averaged 432kg at 15.5 months of age and graded U+3-. We are very happy with their performance so far. The remaining bulls are performing well and were weighed in last week, and weighed between 600 and 650kg. The first half of the bulls sold were mainly by terminal Charolais sires with the remaining bulls being sired by more maternal type Limousin, Simmental and Saler bulls. The autumn-born bulls are currently outside on grass and these animals will be housed in the next month or so for finishing. We have had a few isolated cases of viral pneumonia in this group, and as a result, we will vaccinate this group with veterinary advice. The plan is to vaccinate the weanlings for viral pneumonia this year in advance of weaning from August. Second cut silage/winter barley crop The second cut silage will be cut in the next few days, weather permitting. This will allow 40 days for the 80 units of nitrogen applied to be used up. We have completed a fodder budget which shows we need 750 bales for a five-month winter. We will achieve this target. The majority of the silage made to date will be 70+DMD and we may let a proportion of the second bulk up which can be fed to dry suckler cows over the winter period. The winter barley crop is also about just days away from harvesting. The winter barley looks like a good crop just from examining grains. The crop will probably be desiccated with glyphosate prior to harvest, as the plan is to return this ground to grass post-harvest. By using glyphosate to dessicate the crop it can be ploughed immediately after harvest for reseeding. It also means that the straw can be baled almost immediately post-harvest, as there will be no green material present. Ground currently under grass will be sown with winter barley instead. The barley is harvested below 18% DM and stored in a loft for feeding to finishing bulls and heifers over the winter and spring period. The loft has a timber floor and a large surface area, meaning the barley isn't stacked high. The barley is transferred to the loft from the trailer using an auger. Once the barley is harvested as dry as possible, we have never had an issue with heating. Grassland management and re-seeds Our farm cover was 761kg DM/ha on June 23, the demand was 52kg DM/ha, and the growth was lower at 41kg DM/ha. The spring-calving cows had one more cover of 1,400 left to graze before grazing covers of 1,000kg. All of the paddocks were topped with a mower after the cows over the last rotation, which is now probably after impacting grass growth and resulting in a flat wedge. The paddocks will receive half a bag of 38% protected urea over the next week and this, with increased rainfall over the coming week, we are hoping will improve grass growth. The stocking rate is 2.93 livestock units/ha. Needless to say, we will walk the farm and make a decision based on the result. The newly re-seeded field is within a week of grazing, and we are very happy with the take of clover in the paddock. The re-seed has received its post-emergence clover-safe herbicide. The plan is to graze this paddock with the spring calving suckler herd within the next week. Overall, we are happy with how the re-seed turned out. We probably underestimated how long the paddock was out of the rotation, but we hope to get increased grass growth rate from this field at the shoulders of the year when it's wanted most. Breeding update The breeding season was completed after seven weeks of AI. We normally breed over six weeks, however, we noticed two heifers repeating in week seven, and as a result, an exception was made to extend by a week. We are happy with how it went, and the heifers can now be moved to the outblock which will allow us to bring the autumn calvers home for preparation for calving. Eamon and his son Donnchadh are farming in Carrigeen, Glendine, Youghal, Co Waterford, and are part of the Teagasc Future Beef programme with the Signpost programme. They run a suckling to beef enterprise split into 60% spring and 40% autumn-calving, consisting of 55 suckler cows. The males are finished as under-16-month bull beef, while the heifers, not retained for breeding, are finished at 18-20 months. Own heifers are kept for breeding. Read More Dry spring delivers quality silage but slows grass growth in Youghal