Aonghusa Fahy March/April 2023
Grassland
- Struggling with a wet March- keeping cows and calves out
- Managing grass in wet conditions in March to…
- Taking out surplus bales at the of April
- Fertiliser and slurry applied
Performance
Calving finished at the end of March which meant a calving period of just over 8 weeks. Aonghusa took some leave during this time .Having a compact calving period meant that he was around for a lot of the calving period. He also uses Moocall and cameras to help with observation.
The cows had to be re-housed in March due to the very wet weather. Aonghusa supplemented the cows with 1 kg of meal as the breeding season would be starting at the end of April and didn’t want the cows losing any condition as a result of been back on silage.
Grassland
All of the grazing area at home in Ardrahan got half-a-bag of Protected urea om March 1st. The spring rotation planner was on target with 1/3 been grazed by March 1st. The continuous rainfall meant that cows and calves had to be re-housed for 2 weeks at the end of March .
Grass continued to grow with rates rising from 13kgs/DM/ha/day to 38kgs by the end of the month.
As a result of re-housing the average farm cover increased to 818kgs with some paddocks having a cover of over 3000kgs DM. A decision was taken to cut the surplus grass as bales on the weekend of the 22nd of April. In total 8 acres was cut and 32 bales made.
Image - Getting good graze outs to 4cm
While demand is greater than growth there is 19 days of grass ahead . 14 is the target for the end of April.
Breeding
Like most part-time farmers, Aonghusa uses a stock bull but over the last 3 years he has increased the use of AI on the cows. Last year 26 cows out of 30 proved in calf to AI. Aonghusa has used MooCall Heat for the last 3 seasons to aid heat detection. A vasectomised bull is fitted with a Moocall Heat collar and the cows and heifers are fitted with a special tag. Moocall HEAT sends a message to the farmer once the vasectomised bull detects a cow in standing heat giving an optimum time to serve the cow. Aonghusa will get a text on my phone that tells him what cow is in standing heat and the AI man that then be called for the morning or evening. As an insurance policy , Aonghusa also tail paints the cows.
Overall Management
Aonghusa bought in two friesian weanlings in 2022, reared them on farm and got them vasectomised in early February well in advance of the breeding season. They were on top quality silage plus 2 kg of meal over the winter to ensure that they were in a fit condition for this years breeding season. One of the bulls will run with the cows and the other with the heifers .Aonghusa likes to let the bulls out with the cows at least 3 weeks before breeding actually starts. This allows the bull to settle with his collar and Aonghusa can record heats before the season starts.
The farm is dry and cows and calves were let to grass in February and despite having to rehouse for a week, they are in a body condition score of 2.5 to 3.
The paddocks around the yard have are closed for March and most of April to build covers of grass . The breeding season will start on the 24th of April and the cows are moved to these paddocks for easier drafting into the shed . This year, bulls such as Creggpark Marcus, Lapon, Whitecliffe James ,Cross Liam and Curaheen Gunshot have been selected for specific cows. AI will be used for 3 weeks and the bull will be then be introduced and left with the cows for another 9 weeks.