Dairy Newsletter - March 2023

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In this month's edition:

• Top five tips for March
  1. Milk recording: record within 60 days of the first cow calving, e.g., if first calving took place on January 25, record by March 25. This will help to identify and address problem cows early.
  2. Early turnout: maiden heifers need to be at target weight for breeding (290-330kg for JEX, FR, Hol FR) for maximum fertility performance. Early turnout of light heifers to grass along with 2kg of concentrate will deliver a gain of >1kg per day to facilitate hitting target weights.
  3. Vaccination: recent advice suggests moving vaccination dates to during the dry period; however, if vaccinations need to be completed for 2023, it is recommended to have them done at least one month ahead of breeding.
  4. Assess body condition: cows that lose >0.5 body condition score (BCS) in early lactation have reduced reproductive performance. Condition score now to identify thin cows that should be put on once-a-day (OAD) milking to improve condition.
  5. Pick your AI bull team for breeding: Teagasc Breeding Week takes place from March 20-24 and will cover identifying your breeding goals, identifying AI sires, and using Sire Advice to allocate sires to help you achieve your goals, along with lots of other information on all things breeding.
• Weaning calves successfully
  During the first weeks of life, the calf is entirely dependent on milk as a source of nutrition, with the digestion of milk occurring in the abomasum. Young calves have little to no rumen capacity in early life. Careful nutritional management before weaning ensures that the rumen develops to allow the transition to an entirely solid diet. Successful weaning is a balancing act between achieving an adequate growth rate and promoting rumen development.
• March grazing targets
  Grazing has gone well during February. Many farmers on dry land will have reached the 25-30% target grazed by March 1. The aim is to have about 65% of the farm grazed by St Patrick’s Day according to the spring rotation planner.
• Select your best cows to breed replacement heifers
  Each year at this time, dairy AI bull selection is discussed in great detail and rightly so, but what about dam selection? The genetic potential of heifers comes from both sire and dam; therefore, mating your best females to dairy AI is as important as selecting the correct bull team.
• Health & Safety - Check gates and fences
  Are your fences stockproof along public roads? Animals getting onto roads is a major hazard to traffic with high potential for serious injury. The Animals Act 1985 places a strong duty on farmers to prevent stock from getting onto roads. March is an opportune time to check fencing along public roads ahead of turnout of stock.