Beef
Winter weighing – an essential in calf to beef production
Winter weighing – an essential in calf to beef production Achieving daily live weight gain targets throughout an animal’s life on calf to beef farms is one of the key metrics used to measure the success of animal nutrition, grassland management, husbandry and health programmes. As part of the DairyBeef 500 Campaign, […]
28 November 2022
Fact vs fiction: the ‘myths’ of calving at 24 months
Fact vs fiction: the ‘myths’ of calving at 24 months Contrary to popular belief, calving beef heifers at 24 months of age has no negative implications on subsequent lifetime performance when compared to calving heifers at 36 months. The age beef heifers calve for the first time is a cause of contention […]
28 November 2022
Charlie Smyth, DairyBeef 500 Farmer, Farm Update November 2022
Charlie Smyth, DairyBeef 500 Farmer, Farm Update November 2022 Charlie is a relatively new entrant to calf-to-beef production. He is farming 50ha just outside Virginia, Co. Cavan – on a mixture of owned and leased ground. In this article Charlie gives us an update on his farm. We have operated a calf […]
26 November 2022
The two critical measures of silage
The two critical measures of silage With a lot of dairy-beef animals now indoors, grass silage will contribute to a high proportion of the diet of animals over the course of the winter period. Balancing this silage with the correct quantity/quality of concentrate is key to achieving the desired levels of winter […]
24 November 2022
Sourcing calves for next Spring
Sourcing calves for next Spring As we head into December, now is the time to reflect on how and where we should be sourcing are calves next spring. Having the right calf in place is one of the main ingredients in having a profitable and sustainable dairy calf to beef system on […]
23 November 2022
Maximising Weanling Performance this Winter
Maximising Weanling Performance this Winter John Kilboyle, B&T Drystock Adviser, Teagasc Galway/Clare tells us that over the coming weeks weanling’s will start to be housed and the aim is for them to put on 70kg between now and turnout next spring, or 0.6kg of live weight on average per day. This level […]
11 November 2022
Cow Management now can effect next year’s Breeding Performance
Cow Management now can effect next year’s Breeding Performance With the poor weather of the last few weeks many of our suckler cows are now housed and in many cases weaned. Those that are not weaned if not adequately fed may start to lose condition which we should avoid particularly if they […]
10 November 2022
Ensuring performance on DairyBeef 500 farms
0 Ensuring performance on DairyBeef 500 farms With the clock having gone back and the heavy rainfall over the past few weeks the winter is well and truly in on the majority of farms throughout the country. Tommy Cox, Teagasc DairyBeef 500 Advisor, tells us attention turns to the housing period and ensuring […]
2 November 2022
Newford Farm is working to enhance the level of biodiversity on the farm
Newford Farm is working to enhance the level of biodiversity on the farm The farm has been selected as a demonstration farm as part of the Teagasc Signpost Programme. This will see a suite of measures introduced over the lifetime of the programme that will serve to reduce the volume of gaseous […]
31 October 2022
Lice treatment – failure to treat can adversely affect weight gain
Lice treatment – failure to treat can adversely affect weight gain By now all categories of stock will have been housed due to persistent rain, while fluke and worm treatments will have been given. Alan Dillon, DairyBeef 500 Programme Co-Ordinator, tells us about lice treatment and what can happen if we fail […]
26 October 2022