Previous years updates - Teagasc | Agriculture and Food Development Authority

2021

Week start	Litres / Cow	Fat %	Protein %	SCC	Milk solids Day Kg	Meal Kg	Average Farm cover	Cover / LU	Pre grazing yield Kg/DM	Demand Kg DM/ha	Growth Kg DM/ha
November 22nd	16.56	4.77	4.27	134	1.5	3.5	844	474	1800	30	14
Comment	Cows have been out at grass full time all this week again with no silage in the diet and 3.5kg of meal. It has been a phenonmenal back end to the year which has greatly saved slurry storage, silage and workload. The plan is to keep the cows out full time this week to finish off the rotation while the weather is so good and demand is still high before early calver's are dried off. There are 5 paddocks left to graze in our wettest section of the farm which will be cleaned off this week and won't be grazed again until the end of March. This week 8 low yielding cows were dried off so there is currently 148 cows milking. 4 cows required shoes after being pared as they had some bruising from the long walks that they wouldn't normally have at this time of year. The in calf heifers returned to the farm from the contract rearer on Tuesday after 8 months there.
November 8th	15.76	5.03	4.06	182	1.43	3.5	969	544	2100	30	13
Comment	The 156 milking cows have been out full time this week mainly on 24 hour breaks. Just the 10 empty cows and 35 dry cows housed so far. There is enough grass on the farm to stretch out to the end of the month if the weather holds reasonably good. It was a great opportunity to graze the new reseeds and heavy covers on the wettest fields on the farm. The cows weren't too content in multispecies at first but settled down and grazed it well. They are crossing the road by day and get 3 bales of good quality silage while waiting in the shed. 28 cows with over grown hooves were pared and all milking cows were foot bathed for 2 days.
October 18th	17.6	4.86	4.11	195	1.58	2	1054	422	2100	43	44
Comment	Will start to use strip wire this week with a broken spell ahead. Will target paddocks with good access on the wettest days and will buffer with some good quality bale silage if needs be. the grass clover reseed has a lot of chickweed in parts of it so sprayed it with DB Plus. The grass in the multispecies hasn't established as well as the legumes for some reason and there seems to be a good few thistles coming in open parts so will have to monitor closely. Brought 4 dry cows to the mart which had been on rough grazing for the summer and they averaged €1120. Took advantage of the dry week to empty all the slurry tanks before the 15th of October. Gave the parlour and dairy an autumn clean, we normally do it every 6 weeks when we milk record.
August 27th	21.41	4.21	3.74	139	1.75	2.0	937	332	1600	49	78
August 11th	21.36	4.10	3.55	143	1.68	3.5	721	221	1400	50	72
July 12th	22.90	3.98	3.48	134	1.76	1.0	694	212	1400	60	72
Comment
June 21st	25.89	3.96	3.45	117	1.92	2.0	717	204	1300	60	65
Comment	Clean outs have been good this week although production is dropping back sward quality should be excellent for the rest of the Summer. One paddock with a cover of 2000 cut this week. Growth slowing down after a dry week and with no significant rain in the forecast we'll be slow to take out anymore paddocks for now. Paddocks that are cut for bales are receiving 2000 gallons of washing and 1 and a 1/4 of 18-6-12 to replenish PS & Ks.
June 16th	26.34	3.9	3.57	90	2.03	2.0	758	198	1300	65	91
Comment	Cows had a tough week grazing, tight along with wet few days during the middle of the week. Grass growth has been exceptional the last couple of weeks. The main issue now is that there is a surplus of grass but with a large proportion of the milking platform cut already, there is a gap in the wedge so paddocks that would ordinarily be skipped this round will have to be grazed and the plan is to take these out for bales next round. We've topped 75% of first cut area for second cut which will allow us lower the stocking rate on the milking platform, increase the ammount of after grass in the cows diet and free up poorly grazed paddocks for surplus bales. 4 bags of 18-06-12+ surplus spread for second cut. Parlour washings spread at 2000 gallons/acre after 7 weeks and will run an angus and an aubrac bull for 6 weeks to try keep empty rate to a min this year.
May 31st	28.28	4.21	3.51	147	2.18	3.0	653	156	1300	67	61
Comment:	Cows were very unsettled for the majority of the wek and grass utilisation was poor. 3 cases of mastitis this week which im putting down to the weather and stress. The whole milking platform received 2 bags of 18/6/12 as we continue to build soil fertility to optimal levels. Replaced tags in 33 cows even though around 40 were replaced at the end of last year. Sold the last 12 Angus calves at the mart which averaged €150. First cut silage is in progress, the plan is to cut as much as possible before the rain arrives on Weds. Having our own silage gear gives us great flexibility especially when the window is so narrow. Changed the liners on the parlour during the week, they had done around 2500 milking's. Sowed some wildflower seeds to create a new bee bank around the silage pits and cleaned off a south facing bank for solitary mining bee's.
May 24th	29.79	3.96	3.54	109	2.23	3.0	666	159	1300	57	76
Comment:	Starnge to say this in May but we did some damage to paddocks the cows were in over the past week, hopefully they will recover well when the weather picks up. Spreading dirty water with trailing shoe on paddocks after cows graze. 21 day submission was very good considering the weather with the last 3 weeks a few repeats but that is ecpected, will switch to beef straws at the end of this week.
May 10th	32.24	3.84	3.51	66	2.37	4.5	567	140	1100	61	60
Comment:	Growth has picked up this week but struggling to keep silage out of the diet. Demand has more or less matched growth so hoping to finally reach magic day next week. Cows are content on 24 hour grazing's and cleaning out covers of 1100. 52% of the cows have been served after 13 days of breeding. Topped up the tail paint over the weekend with a change of colour for the cows that have been served. Sold 8 replacement heifer calves during the week which leaves us with 42 replacements. Our student finished up on Friday, he got on very well and will be missed. We will have some help for a few days of the wek over the Summer from a young neighbour who is a great asset to the Farm for milking and helps us to keep on top of the day to day jobs.
April 26th	31.31	3.9	3.48	164	2.3	3.0			1200	54	42
Comment:	Cows have been grazed good quality second rotation paddocks of 1200 and production has increased throughout the week. Utilisation is excellent in this weather. On 24 hour grazing's for the Summer. Walking the Farm today but looks like we have'nt reached the magic day yet. More rain definatly needed as soil moisture deficit increasing. Followed the cows with watery slurry this week.
April 19th	30.18	3.86	3.52	149	2.23	3.0	774	203	2700	57	36
Comment:	Grazed the last heavy cover over 6 night's during the week. Cover of 2700 but cows grazed reasonably well in dry conditions. No sign of any real warmth/rain coming over the next week so may need to increase meal levels if growth does'nt improve. Second milk recording of the year carried out during the week. Sold last of the Aubrac calves with just angus calves remaining now. Down to the last 3 cows left to calf. Hoof pared a cow with white line and found a drop, got it early so did'nt need antibiotic treatment. Cows showing strong heats this week, will start breeding on the 26th of April.
April 12th	30.20	3.9	3.52	131	2.14	3.0	801	210	2300	57	41
Comment:	Grazing two heavy covers of 2000+ during the wek extended the first rotation by 5 days, there is still one very heavy cover over 2500 which I am hoping we wont need to graze. All the milking platform was topped up with 23 units of protected urea to bring total N up to 66 units. Two thirds of the silage ground was spread with a bag and a quater of protected urea with sulpher and the rest which did'nt receive as much slurry got two and a quater bags of sweet 18s. Rolled around the headlands of silage fields and picked up stones around ditched. Had to reseed two thirds of a field that was stitched last August but unfortunately failed after wet weather. Lost a lovely Angus heifer calf that was unable to pass any faeces, always disappointing to lose an animal but there was nothing that could be done to save her.
March 29th	30.3	4.15	3.49	175	2.31	3.0	924	286	1600	45	33
Comment:	Cows have remained out full time on 3kg meal. 3 more grazing's left to finish silage ground. 28.5% of whole farm grazed to date. Cover of 1100 on first grazed paddock but only 900 on next one so will graze as much of first rotation as is needed to allow rest of paddocks to catch up. At the moment looks like last 3 paddocks can be skipped but may change depending on weather and growth but good to have the bank there to give the option.
March 22nd	28.77	4.37	3.31	146	2.21	3.0	781	424	1200	26	19
Comment:	Cows have been out full time this week. 64% of the Farm grazed to date. Ground has dried up well so gone to 24 hour breaks now. Meal back from 4kd to 3kg. Plan is to start second rotation on 7th of April but will be adjusted accoreding to growth. 87% calved in 8 weeks. Whole herd received booster for Lepto and BVD. Dehorned last of the Fr Heifer calves. All 40 maiden heifers gone to contract rearer this week. Another 8 Aubrac calves sold from the yard. ESB on farm today to connect up our new 33kva transformer to increase our supply to max one phase capacity. Sadly lost one of our best 6 week old heifer calf with a twisted gut on Saturday.
March 15th	26	4.55	3.32	200	2.05	4.0			1200
Comment:	Grazing was limited this week due to unsettled weather. Cows were in by night from Tuesday to Saturday. They were in Wednesday during the Day also but got out every other day for 3 hours of/on grazing. Cows were fed high quality bales when housed which held up litres but solids did drop back. They grazed our driest fields but still utilisation was poor so hoping to clean them up later this week when groud conditions dry out again. 26 out of 40 heifers have gone to contract rearer now and all of them have received their booster for BVD, Lepto and blackleg
March 8th	26	4.9	3.41	179	2.16	4.0	811	504	1100	23	9
Comment:	Its been a perfect week weather wise which has really dried out the ground. 37% has been grazed in total so far. 80% calved 6 weeks after first calf was born. Sold 35 Fr Bull calves from home so only Fr Heifers and beef calves on the Farm at the moment. Spread whole Farm with 2 bags/acre of 18.6.12. Had two down cows, onw with milk fever which is ok again and one that slipped and got injured which unfortunately wasn't able to get up again but thats farming and you have to accept you will have losses especially at this time of year. 18 lighest maiden heifers gone to contract rarer and remaining 22 will hopefully go in the next 10 days.
March 1st	23.4	4.75	3.37	248	1.9	4.0	974		1000	20	5
Comment:	17% Grazed in February. Cows have been out day and night since Thursday the 25th Feb. 72% calved but slowing down now as we transition to beef calves. Sold 24 more frisian bull calves in the mart. Cleaned out calving shed and calf sheds during the week. Got more straw as plan is to feed to late calves to maintain condition. First milk recording of the year carried out to get on top of SCC.