Ruairi Cummins May/June Update 2024
Reseeding challenges
- Reseeded grass is starting to strike
- Will qualify for red clover silage measure 2024
- First cut silage complete
Finishing bulls
- Young bull performance 2024
- Age at finish lower than 2023 with a slight reduction in carcass weights
- Final price also lower
Fertiliser allowances
- Checking fertiliser allowances for 2024
- How much fertiliser can Ruairi buy for the rest of the year?
- Little risk of exceeding limits
Grassland
Ruairi reseeded a paddock on the out farm which was struggling to grow, but the grass is now starting to appear. It was sprayed off around 21st April and was sown on the 12th May. Although the seed was stitched in and rolled afterwards, the land was wet at the time and it struggled to grow since then. It was spread with 3 bags of 13-6-20 per acre after sowing to help establishment.
The seed mix contained:
- 2kg Abermagic PRG
- 5kg Barwave PRG
- 2kg Aberwolf PRG
- 1kg Aberclaret red clover
- 5kg Alice white clover
- 3kg Rozeta red clover
Ruairi applied for the red clover silage measure for 2024 during his BISS 2024 application and this mix will qualify for it. He will be paid up to €300/ha sown and the crop had to be sown between 16th July 2023 and 15th July 2024.
Figure 1: Field reseeded on 12th May, photo taken 10th June 2024
Silage was cut on the home farm on 31st May and it yielded between 8-9 bales/acre which Ruairi was happy with. Silage was cut on the out farm on 6th June and yielded from 7 to 9 bales/acre. Ruairi now has 224 bales in the yard from first cut silage and had 30 left over from last year. He needs 560 bales in total for the winter period so will have to make a further 306 bales from his second cut.
The silage ground was spread with 2500 gallons of slurry/acre on 3rd June and will be topped up with 60 units/acre of protected urea.
Figure 2: Silage bales are stacked max. 2 high and are labelled according to the paddocks they were cut from
Performance
The last batch of bulls were finished on 9th May. 16 bulls were finished between 2nd April and 9th May. They were finished at an average of 14.5 months of age at an average carcass weight of 396kg, grading U-3- and making €2188/head.
The age at finish was lower than 2023 which was 14.8 months, but this is partially due to an injured bull that went to the factory earlier than expected. Last years’ average carcass weight was 408kg, they graded the same at U-3- and averaged €2281/head.
Figure 3: Some of the bulls during the finishing period
Soil Fertility
Ruairi has been calculating his fertiliser limits for 2024. According to his 2024 nutrient management plan which contain the latest soil sample results, he is permitted to spread 6982 kg N and 574 kg P.
To date he has purchased the following fertiliser:
- 1.5t of 46% protected urea
- 3t of 38% protected urea + S
- 2t of 18-6-12
- 2t of 13-6-20
To calculate how many kg of P and K he has bought so far, he must do the following for each compound:
- Multiply the units per tonne by 20 (e.g. 46% pro urea x 20 = 920 units N per tonne fertiliser)
- Divide it by 2 to convert to kg (e.g. 920 units / 2 = 460 kg N per tonne)
- Multiply by the total tonnage (e.g. 1.5t x 460 kg N = 690 kg N)
In total he has purchased 2450 kg of nitrogen and 240 kg phosphorus this year. When this is subtracted from the total allowances, it means that he can still buy 4532 kg N and 334 kg P. To work this back into fertiliser terms, it can be calculated as follows;
- P allowance of 334kg divided by 60 kg N/t = 5.5t of 18-6-12
- An extra 5.5t of 18-6-12 also contains 990 kg nitrogen (calculated the same as above)
- This leaves a nitrogen allowance of 3542 kg N when subtracted from 4532 kg N
- N allowance of 3542 divided by 460 kg N/t = 7.7 t 46% protected urea
Ruairi will not need to spread that quantity of fertiliser but it is important to track his fertiliser usage and limits as it could lead to penalties if he exceed their allowances.