Newford Farm January/February 2025

General Detail

Calving activity is in full swing at the moment on Newford Farm.

The first cow calved on the 31^st of January
23 cows out of 86 in-calf animals have calved up to 13^th February
- With 23 live calves on the ground within 14 days (27 % of the herd)
There has been no calving difficulty to report thus far
After a very tough year of 2024 regarding weather , it is great relief to the farm that all the cows are in good body condition and what body condition they lost during mid-autumn 2024 they have put it back on.
All cows are calving down with plenty of milk and no health issues to report after calving and all calves are very active after birth with good body weights
Average weight of all calves born at the moment is 41 kg
Calving score to-date is detailed below;

Newborn calves

Newford yearling heifers went to grass on the 1^st February 2025 weighing 376 Kg
They were housed for 58 days over the winter period ( housed on 5^th December ‘24)
Each heifer consumed 114 kg of concentrates costing €36 per heifer over the winter period
On average each heifer gained 41 kg live weight or 0.71 kg per day over the 58 days ( offered 75% DMD silage and 2kg concentrates)
Newford’ s plan for these heifers is now to finish them off grass at 18 to 19 months of age aiming for an average drafting liveweight of 560 kg +/- in mid to late autumn . The farm hopes to capitalise on seasonally stronger market returns compared to later in the year

Stock at grass

At turnout the 39 heifers are grazing an average of one acre per day and moved on every day to fresh grazing to prevent paddock poaching
The spring rotation planner is in place ( PastureBase) and the farm is aiming to have 19% of the farm grazed by the 21^st of February

Details of cattle at grass

Neilan’s farm received 2t of lime per acre in late January
46% Protected urea has being ordered and the first fertiliser of 2025 will be spread in the coming days at a rate of 23 units per acre ( ½ a bag)

Grass details for the farm