Ed Curtin May/June Update 2024
Reseeding & silage yields
- Reseeding underway
- Seed mix selected
- Tracking silage yields from first cut
Dairy Beef
63 dairy beef calves were purchased in total this spring. Three died; two from twisted abomasum and one in February of bloat and 60 now remain on the farm. They are now all weaned and will be gradually let out to grass over the coming week. They were eating ad lib straw, high dry matter baled silage harvested in late April on an outfarm and ration in the form of a 17% nut (approx. 2kg/head/day) indoors until turnout.
Ed has changed his grazing strategy with the calves this year. In the past few years they were turned out straight to grass on the out farm and if any health issues arose it was difficult for him to manage and some would have to be brought home. This year they are being turned out to two hen harrier designated fields adjacent to the sheds to start grazing. The older grass here is expected to help reduce the incidence of summer scour syndrome as it will provide more fibre in the diet. If any health issues arise it will be easier for Ed to treat them and he also has the option to re-house them for a night if bad weather is forecast. The paddocks are mainly surrounded by a hedge, high ditches and electric wire and he found this much easier when they went to grass, instead of them running through strands of electric wire that they weren’t trained to.
They have been given a booster vaccine against IBR as some are still coughing, their second clostridial vaccine and a multi-mineral injection were given this week before turnout.
38 of the calves were weighed on 22nd June. The heifers (8) averaged 158kg, ranging from 127kg to 195kg, and they gained 0.89 kg/day since birth on average.
The bulls (30) averaged 141kg, ranging from 100kg to 182kg, and they gained 0.81 kg/day since birth on average.
Figure 1: Some of the weaned dairy beef calves
Grassland
Ed has planned to reseed an 11 acre silage field over the last few years but bad weather in the Autumn has prevented him from doing so. This year he sprayed off the field after first cut silage was made. It was spread with 2500 gallons of slurry/acre using the dribble bar and will be ploughed.
He plans to sow a grass mix that contains:
- Oakpark 6kg
- Astonenergy 2.45kg
- Glenfield 2.0kg
- Crusader white clover 0.6kgs
- Red Clover 0.5kg
He is trialling the red clover to see if it suits the land type and withstand grazing in the autumn.
First cut silage was done on the home farm in May and yielded 406 bales in total. This was in addition to 39 bales made in April on the out farm which left him with 445 bales in total. He also made 18 bales from a surplus paddock on 24th May. After the latest grass walk, Ed took out a further 6 paddocks on the out farm in Boherbue on 12th June and they yielded 16 bales. Ed will need 680 bales for next winter and he is well on track to making these.
Second cut silage fields have been spread with 2500 gallons of slurry/acre using the dribble bar. The fields low in phosphorus got 1 bag of 10-10-20 per acre and this was topped up with 2 bags of sulfa CAN/acre. Silage fields that had issues with docks and buttercups were sprayed with Pastor Trio at 2/L/ha.
Figure 2: Slurry has been spread on silage fields at a rate of 2500 gallons/acre
Performance
The suckler weanlings were weighed before weaning, along with their cows on 1st June. The heifers (10) averaged 315kg and gained 1.05 kg/day since birth. The bulls (11) averaged 368 kg and gained 1.21 kg/day since birth.
Figure 3: Bull weanlings
According to the ICBF weaning performance report Ed’s bulls had a 200 day weight of 289 kg (target 300kg) and the heifers were 246kg (target 250kg). The herd’s weaning efficiency was 41%, which is just below the target of 42%. This is calculated by expressing the calf’s 200 day weight as a percentage of the cow weight. The average cow weight is 657kg for the herd.
Figure 4: Weanling heifers
Ed plans to sell the bull weanlings at the end of June and the heifers in early July. Three cows are being finished from the shed.
Figure 5: Finishing cows