Trevor Boland May/June 2023
- Weighing highlights good daily gains on the weanling bulls
- Meal introduced mid June
Performance
Grassland
The warm , wet start to May resulted in increased grass growth with a maximum growth rate of 167kg/DM/day recorded on the 16th of May. Some heavier covers were removed as baled silage to keep grass under control. Days were ahead at 12 were right on target.
250 high quality , baled silage was made in mid May. Towards the end of May , growth was just ahead of demand which was 50 to 55kgs DM/day.
It has been a game of two halves- without rain , In June growth rate have fallen to just 22kgs DM/ha/day and with demand at 45 kgs/day , the days ahead have reduced to 9. Average Farm Cover has also fallen to below 500 kgs/DM/ha which in not ideal.
Trevor has decided to reduce the demand by selling 6 (1-2) yo CH heifers by the end of June. With the return of rainfall, 1 bag of 18.6.12/acre will also be applied.
Second cut silage
With the lack of rainfall and soil moisture reducing , Trevor decided not to fertilise for the second cut . It has been 3 weeks since the first cut but he will wait until rain is forecast (mid June). This will delay the cutting of the second crop until the end of July but the advice was not to apply heavey amounts of fertiliser in dry conditions.
He will apply 2 bags of 18.6.12/acre and top it up with 40 units of Protected urea/acre. Sulphur is very important and he will apply 8 units /acre.
Picture 1: Example of Charolais that will be sold to reduce demand
Picture 2: Good grass covers in May
Picture 3: Grass covers mid June AFC<500kgs
Performance
Trevor weighs on a regular basis to monitor cattle performance. The weanling bulls were weighed in May and June.
At the beginning of June the autumn born bulls averaged 338 kgs which is 1.04kgs per day since birth. Since the previous weighing in May – the bulls are averaging 2.33kgs liveweight gain per day which is excellent.
In preparation for sale at the end of July/early August – Trevor has introduced meal at 3 kgs per day. The target weight for sale is 450kgs.
Animal Health
Due to some coughing , the bull weanlings/heifers and the purchased stores were dosed with ivermection. One of the bulls was not thriving and had loose dung and Trevor treated him with endofluke which has corrected his symptoms .
Trevor will now dung sample the cattle 3-4 weeks after dosing to check if the product worked.
Picture 4: All dosed for worms