Trevor Boland September/October 2023
Performance
- The last of the cows calve in October with no major issues to report
- The 50 calved cows are divided into 3 management groups
- Slaughter report for the early maturing heifers
Breeding
- The Breeding season started on October 15th
- 43 are inseminated using AI in 2 weeks
- Bulls chosen are LM2014; SA2153; AA4752; CH4160 and CH 6490
Performance
Overall, Trevor is happy with this years calving performance. The majority of the herd calved unassisted . One calf was born dead but another cow had twins to off-set the loss. Close to 90% of the herd calved in 10 weeks with the remaining 5 cows calving in October. This is part of Trevor’s plan to calve as compactly as possible going forward.
Trevor broke the herd into 3 groups as 1 group would be too big given the wet weather during September and October and this worked well in keeping cows and calves out until the end of October which is always the target date for housing on the farm.
Picture 1: Cows with calves at foot on October 13th 2023
Picture 2: Selection of the 2023 autumn born calves
Prior to housing Trevor will vaccinate the calves with Rispoval intranasal and for IBR.
Slaughter Report
28 dairy x beef animals have been slaughtered to date. This year , Trevor targeted to slaughter earlier off grass rather than finishing indoors over a short period.
The 2023 slaughter report is very similar to the 2022 – same carcass weights, grading etc with the exception that the average age of finish is 19.4 months compared to 20.6 months in 2022. That is a reduction of 1.2 months in slaughter age. Slaughtering at a younger age has a major impact in reducing GHG but in practical terms this group of stock were gone off the farm before housing.
Breeding
The breeding season started on October 15th and 43 were served in 2 weeks which was an excellent submission rate . Trevor uses AI and likes to serve every cow at least once before housing . AI gives Trevor a choice of bulls. This year he opted for the following
Replacements
- LM2014
- SA 2153
Terminal
- CH4160
- CH6490
Maiden heifers
- AA4752
Replacement Bulls
Trevor picked high value replacement index bulls with high reliability and used these straws on the best cows to target high value replacements.
LM2014; Edwendale Ivor
SA2153 Highfield Odran
SA2153 is also 5 star for daughter milk at + 7.90kg
On the terminal side – 2 CH bulls are being used
CH4160 Pottlereagh Mark will be used on the more mature cows.
CH6490 Orbi
An angus bull AA4752 Dalriada Red Perfection will be used on maiden heifers mainly. He has high replacement figures and is easy calving with over 90% reliability.
Pic 2023 born calves 13/10/2023