Beef Newsletter – June 2025

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In this month’s edition:

• Fertilising second cut silage
  Second-cut silage will be an important crop on many farms to build silage reserves for the coming winter. It is important to ensure that second-cut crops are fertilised adequately to provide a good yield.
• Don’t forget sulphur
  Sulphur (S) is an important nutrient for grassland production, and is closely associated with N uptake and efficiency. It plays a key role in increasing grass DM yield, fertiliser N efficiency, and reducing N leaching.
• Breeding review
  How is your breeding season progressing? Where a stock bull is being used, it is still important to record when cows are showing heat, so that the number of repeats can be measured.
• Ensure grass quality
  The main aim over the coming weeks will be to maintain an adequate supply of high-quality grass ahead of the herd. Key targets at this time of year include:
  • target rotation length: 18-20 days;
  • pre-grazing yield: 1,400kg DM/ha; and,
  • post-grazing height: 4cm.
• Research Update – Clover benefits
  Peter Doyle, Peter Bennett, Paul Crosson, Michael O’Donovan, Nicky Byrne and Mark McGee look at how grass-white clover grazing swards and red clover-grass silage improve suckler cattle liveweight gain.
• Health & Safety – Expanded wear and tear scheme
  The Acceleration of Wear and Tear Allowances for Farm Safety Equipment Scheme offers capital allowances of 50% per annum to be claimed over a two-year period for listed investments.