John Dunne September/October Update 2024
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Grazing red clover
- Red clover is being grazed
- Precautions against bloat
- Feeding ration at grass
Winter feeding plans
- Fodder budget
- Fodder rape will be grazed from mid-November
- Ration mix being fed
Animal Health
John had a creep feeder in with the suckler weanlings so that they have had access to ration before being weaned. The bullocks were castrated in September and they have all been given an albendazole dose. John used the nose paddles for weaning and they were put on the calves on the weekend of 11th October. He left the cows and calves together for 5-7 days and then separated the cows and calves. This is his first time trying them out and he was happy with how they worked out.
The dairy beef calves have been vaccinated against IBR, RSV, Pi3 and mannheimia pre-housing. They have also been dosed but are starting to cough again, so John plans to treat them again for lungworms. FEC samples were taken from them which showed that they were negative for lungworms, tapeworms, and had low levels of stomach worms and coccidia.
Figure 1: FEC sample results from dairy beef weanlings
The cows were housed on the weekend of 20th October. The weanlings and store cattle were housed over the following 2 weeks and only some of the dairy beef calves and lighter suckler weanlings remain out to finish grazing the red clover crop.
Figure 2: Cows are housed and on ad lib silage
Clover
The red clover was spread with 3000 gallons slurry/acre in early September.
The dairy beef calves and some suckler weanlings are now grazing it and John took precautions to prevent bloat beforehand such as:
- Not letting them in hungry
- Having a grass lie back
- Not allowing them to over graze the blocks of clover
- Feeding silage to prevent them gorging on the feed
They are being fed 1.8kg ration/head/day at grass. John feeds them in troughs which are in a separate field so that he can move the strip wire along while they are eating.
Figure 3: Graze outs on red clover
Figure 4: Weanlings grazing red clover
Animal Nutrition
The two silage pits on the farm were measured;
- Larger pit: 27.7m long x 14m wide x 3m high
- Smaller pit: 15.5m long x 12.43m wide x 2.44m high
There are also 140 bales of grass silage in the yard and rape has been sown for grazing over winter. John also plans to graze the red clover silage instead of making another cut of silage and the dairy beef cattle are currently on it.
Based on stock numbers of 54 cows, 195 weanlings, 2 stock bulls, 195 stores and 21 in calf heifers, John will need all of the silage in the two pits and 1040 bales of silage for this coming winter if the younger cattle are fed 1.5 kg ration/head/day. He also has 10.5 ha of fodder rape available which he will out winter the dairy beef cattle on so this will give him 189 days of feed in total when ration is accounted for.
Figure 5: The smaller silage pit has been opened
Fifty red clover silage bales have been placed at 7m intervals along the edge of the rape crop. John plans to start grazing it before the end of November.
Figure 6: Forage rape crop growing, with bales stacked along the field edge for feeding
The spring barley yielded 2.86t/acre this year which John was delighted with, amounting to 40t of feed in the yard in total.
Figure 7: Barley is stored for feeding
The dairy beef calves are getting 1.5kg/head/day of a mix consisting of:
- 3t rolled barley (assuming €230/t)
- 6t beet pulp (€290/t Quinns)
- 4t SBM (€425/t)
- 05t minerals
- 4t molasses (assuming €305/t)
The ration mix is 12.5% crude protein as fed. If it was adjusted slightly it could be increased to 13.8% crude protein which would be better for the growing cattle. At the feed costs above it leaves the current cost at €264/t which is very good value.
Figure 8: Ration mix breakdown