Wesley Browne May Update
Grass growth
Calving interval
Performance
Grassland
The farm is walked and the grass is measured on a weekly basis. Growth has increased from 54 kgs DM/Ha/day at the start of May to 82kgs in the third week. Current demand is 52kgs Dm/day. There are 16 days ahead which is on target for this time of year. 16.5kgs of nitrogen was applied per acre in early May. The third rotation started on May 18th.
The recent good weather is allowing the stock to graze to 4cm and the cows are entering covers close to 1400 kg/DM/ha which is ideal. Stock stay in the paddock for an average of 2-3 days. There is currently 26ha of silage closed which will be cut before the end of May. 200 bales were made on May 14th from paddocks that went too strong for grazing. The crop was cut on a Friday afternoon, tedded out and baled the following day. These bales have been put aside and will be used for the weanlings next winter. Slurry will be applied to the silage ground immediately using Less.
Docks and weeds have been treated with Forefront T in early May.
Breeding
The plan for 2023 is to start calving in early February and finish by mid April ie 10 week calving period. There were 3 late calvers in May and these will be culled by the end of the year . The breeding started on May 4th and the 3 bulls (Saler, Lim & Simmental) have been very active to date. The Saler bull is with 33 maiden heifers while the Simmental and Lim is used on the cows. The bulls will be removed in the first week in July. Any cow/heifer not scanned in calf will be culled once her calf is reared.
Performance
The Bulls are performing very well. They are averaging 1.3 to 1.6kgs ADG from birth. The bulls are in the latter stages of the finishing period and their daily diet consists of 1 bale of 70% DMD silage plus 625kgs of meal between 42 bulls.
The first of the bulls (4) fit for slaughter were picked and killed on May 19th. 3 of the bulls graded U= with 1 at U-. The average carcase weight was 394 kgs at 14.5 months of age. The fat class ranged from 3- to 4=. The remaining bulls will be fed for another 2 weeks before the next draft for slaughter is made.
To ensure cheap weight off grass , the plan is to start forward creeping grazing the weanlings in the next week. The electric fence will be lifted using a horse stake allowing the weanlings to creep ahead.