Breeding
- Calving is almost finished
- Breeding is underway since 1st May
- Saler bull swapped in for Angus bull
Wesley Browne May/June 2025 Update
- On-farm investments
- Quad, clipex posts & post driver to reduce labour
- Future-proof yard improvements
Health & Safety
Breeding
Only one cow is left to calve on Wesley’s farm and she is due before the end of May. Overall he is happy with this year’s calving season as the good weather in spring helped to get cows and calves to grass within a few days of calving, which reduced workload on the farm. Grass grew well, no major health issues occurred and no calves were lost at calving.
Figure 1:Cows and calves at grass
The breeding season started on 1st May when Wesley let out the Simmental stock bull with one group of cows. The Limousin bull was turned out with his group the following week and the Angus bull was also turned out with the heifer group. The Angus bull is showing some temperament issues and Wesley was a little concerned about some extra heat activity within the group after 6 weeks of breeding so he let the Saler bull in to avoid any potential fertility issues.
He is continuing to monitor the three groups of stock for repeats daily.
Figure 2: Limousin stock bull with one group of cows and calves
Performance
Three groups of bulls have been sold to the factory since 22nd May to 6th June, with 13 sold in total this year. They have averaged a carcass weight of 421kg at 14.9 months of age and graded U=3+ on average. They have averaged €3309 per head to date which Wesley is delighted with. A further 28 are yet to sold and will be drafted as they come fit.
Wesley weighed 36 bulls on 2nd June before the last load were sold. They averaged 648kg and had gained 1.85kg/day since their previous weighing on 10th May. They are currently eating 10kg of ration/head/day in a diet feed mix with high quality grass silage.
Figure 3: Some of the finishing bulls
Health & Safety
With the higher beef prices this year, Wesley has decided to make some investments into his farm to make his life easier and safer, as well as reducing his tax bill.
One investment is into a new quad and fertiliser spreader. He has had situations when he has been checking on young calves in a field and is very exposed if a cow decided to attack him while herding. The quad will provide an escape route, as well as saving him time when checking stock. The fertiliser spreader will allow him to spread fertiliser in paddocks behind the cows as they are grazing and will save time from attaching the spreader to the tractor and having to detach the diet feeder.
Figure 4: New quad and fertiliser spreader
He has also cleared an area beside the shed for storing silage bales and surfaced it with gravel for ease of feeding over winter. As with legal requirements, the bales are only stacked 2 high as they are on hard core. They are over 20 metres away from the nearest water course.
Figure 5: New bale storage area
Wesley has been considering improving an area at the back of the shed for a while. He has decided to add a concrete wall to the perimeter of the area and will be surfacing the ground with concrete. At present it will provide storage for bales of silage with effluent being collected in the slatted tank. However he will consider converting it into a roofed area in time to provide extra housing for cattle in spring after calving.
Figure 6: An area outside the shed is being concreted with perimeter walls erected on the boundary
Labour is a key consideration for Wesley and over time he has found that the timber stakes on the farm break and cause work when cattle break out. He is gradually replacing the timber stakes with the 30 year guaranteed clipex posts. To help with putting these in place he has bought a petrol driven post driver to speed up the job.
Figure 7: Wesley driving a clipex post with the petrol driven post driver