Newford June update

Breeding

The 2022 breeding season finished on Newford Farm on the 29th June. It started on 20 April which equates to a 10-week period.

There were 82 mature cows and 23 maiden heifers put forward for breeding this year
98% of the mature herd was artificially inseminated in the first three weeks of breeding and 100 % of the herd were inseminated within the first four weeks of breeding
Performance was positive and up until Tuesday 28^th of June;
- 61 cows were inseminated once
- 19 cows received a repeat insemination
- Three cows repeated twice and were inseminated three times
The ‘once-a-day AI rule’ was used again on the farm this year. Cows are inseminated once each day at midday.
- If a cow is inseminated at 12 noon and she is still showing signs of standing heat again that evening, that same cow will be served again the next day (12 noon)
- At the moment 17 cows out of the 82 mature cows have being inseminated twice on two consecutive days using this rule
All 23 maiden heifers (photo below) were inseminated once since breeding started on the 20^th of April. These heifers were inseminated for six and a half week
- 23 heifers were inseminated once
- Four were inseminated twice
- Three were inseminated three times
Tail paint patches were used on the heifers as very little tail paint was being rubbed off by the teaser bull making it more difficult to visually pick up animals in heat.

A prime example of calving down heifers at 24 months.

Farm calves down all its heifers at 24 months of age. Above is an example of a typical replacement on the farm.

Newford Farm is placing more attention on enhancing the level of biodiversity on the farm. The farm has been selected as a demonstration farm as part of the Teagasc Signpost Programme. This will see a suite of measures introduced over the lifetime of the programme that will serve to reduce the volume of gaseous emissions the farm produces, protect water quality, enhance biodiversity and ultimately reduce cost and create more profitable and sustainable farming practices. A number of these initiatives have already commenced.

Multispecies swards: the farm reseeded 2.43ha (6 acres) with a multispecies mix on 13^th May 2022. The crop is being trialled with a view to reducing the farm’s requirement for chemical fertilisers while still underpinning high levels of animal performance.
The advantage ofmulti-spices and clover to the farm will help us to maintain a steady growth rate at reducefertiliser application at a time that it is critical to reduce our greenhouse gases emissions
- Themultispecies seed mixture is as follows:
  - Ballintoy (5 kg)
  - Drumbo (5 kg)
  - Aberherald (1 kg) clover
  - Aberswan (1 kg) clover
  - Puna ll Cichorium (1 kg)
  - Tonic Plantain (1kg)

A total of 14kg seed was applied per acre while three bags of 10:10:20 were applied post sowing.

New hedgerow: The farm has also planted a short section of hedgerow which will be used for demonstration purposes. A new section of hedgerow will be joined on an annual basis (next sowing date October 2022) and over time this will demonstrate optimum management practices.

The main hedgerow plant is a native species whitethorn plant and this will remain the focus.