Cathal Irwin March/April Update 2024
Grassland
- Waiting for ground conditions to improve – Cathal wants to get priority stock out to grass
- A plan for closing up for silage – Aiming for 75% DMD silage
- Grassland fertiliser – Cathal wants to get the farm growing grass
Breeding
- Breeding will start in the third week of April
- AI will be used on the maiden heifers – Cathal has ordered the straws
Grassland
February has been a very wet month and as a result ground conditions were very poor. While Cathal was not overly concerned in February, he would like to get the cows and calves out to grass in early March. Some of the cows have been calved since early January and the second cut silage that the cows are eating is poor enough in quality . So it is a priority to get them out to grass. Cathal’s average farm cover is 800kgs/DM/ha so there is plenty of grass on the farm. Once the ground is dry enough he will let the cows out to a low type cover first . This will help the herd acclimatise to their new diet. He has found in the past that turning out to heavy covers has wasted grass. They will walk it into the ground and look to move on. He will also pick a field that is sheltered.
Picture 1: Grass covers on February 21st 2024
After turnout it is good practice to have a Plan B in the event of further bad weather. Cathal has no issue re-housing if ground conditions are not suitable. He doesn’t not want to seriously damage the ground in spring. He can also break up the herd into smaller groups of 5 or 6 cows which would minimise damage.
As there will be a big demand for grass , he plans to spread 23 units of Protected urea/acre once ground conditions allow.
Silage Plan
Picture 2: Silage ground that was grazed in January.
Back in January , Cathal took the opportunity to graze off the silage ground. He let out yearlings are got 12 days grazing . This removed the winter growth . Cathal is aiming for 75% DMD silage + . Cathal has changed from cutting in late May /early June to now cutting in early May to get the high quality silage. So , he will apply slurry at 2000gals/acre by St.Patrick’s day. This will be followed up with 80 units of Protected urea/acre by April 1st and then cut six weeks later.
He followed the same protocol last year and his silage was excellent in quality ie 76%DMD.
Breeding
Breeding will start on April 20th. Cathal purchased a Simmental bull late last year and he will be let out on that date. As the bull is not suitable for heifers , AI will be used on six maiden heifers . Cathal has chosen a high maternal saler bull Ulsan.
The bull has high reliability and is a 5 star replacement at €172. He is easy calving for heifers but also has good figures for milk at 7.9kg .
Cathal will observe both cows and heifers for at least 3 weeks before the breeding season starts and identify any female that is not showing heat. Any cow and heifer not showing heat can be pre-scanned before April 20th. Good record keeping is critical to keep the calving period compact.
Performance
Picture: The bulls currently on 12kg of concentrate/head/day. adg 2.45kgs/day