Aonghusa Fahy May/June
Breeding
- Shorter heats- Aonghusa takes precautions with extra observation
- Breeding update
- The bull will be let in after two rounds of AI
Grassland
- Grass growth has jumped and Aonghusa takes action to get it under control
- 99 bales are made on May 18th during a dry spell
- Slurry goes out immediately
Breeding
Aonghusa started breeding on April 22nd. As he working full-time , a moo heat collar is used in order to pick up heats in the cows and heifers. However, there has been some technical issues with the collar so he has put a chin ball on the vasectomised bull. In addition, Aonghusa is tail painting the cows. Manual observation is also important so the herd is checked for 15 to 20 minutes in early morning before work , in late afternoon and again at 9pm. If there is any cow/heifer that he is not sure about his father will check mid-day. It is a big effort but it is a critical period in the calender. Getting cows back in calf will ensure that she will calve annually and in a compact period.
Photo: Aonghusa tail paints in addition to the vasectomised bull
Photo: 26 out of 34 have been bulled in 4 weeks
Aonghusa will scan after 30 days breeding to check conception rates. When two rounds of AI are completed ie six weeks, the LM bull is let in to mop up. It is a busy six weeks but the effort will reap dividends. He keeps the herd in paddocks close to the yard. This year, he is using reels and pigtails to make temporary roadways to make running them in easier for AI.
Photo: The 2024 crop of calves
Photo: Cows are kept in paddocks close to the yard
Grassland
Grass growth has jumped with the recent good weather In May. At the start of the month, growth rates were average at 32kgs/DM/ha/Day but with then jumped to over 91kgs/DM/ha/day .
With demand at 53kgs/ha/day , paddocks went to heavy to graze so Aonghusa removed these on the weekend of May 18th. His aim is to keep the days ahead to 15 or 16 for this time of year so removing excess grass has kept this target on track.
Photo: May 17th – too strong to graze
Aonghusa needs to make 200 bales this year. Taking out 5.5ha of surplus grass yielded 99 bales. This should be a high quality which will be kept aside for the weanlings next winter.
2000 gallon of slurry was applied per acre immediately after cutting. The tanks were still full after the winter. There was no opportunity to get the slurry spread in spring with the wet weather. The last application of fertiliser was spread on April 17th and Aonghusa will spread another 20units of protected urea per acre. Surplus grass will be taken off again in six weeks. The fields that were not cut already are earmarked for the next cut. The majority of the grazing platform will have been mowed once which will mean high quality pasture during the main grazing season.
Photo: white clover was oversown on paddocks that were grazed in spring