Signpost update: Helping later-born calves catch up
Regardless of year, dairy-beef farmers will often end up with a cohort of lighter calves. Here, DairyBeef 500 Programme participant, Denis Hickey outlines his strategy to keep younger and lighter calves thriving at grass.
All of this year’s calves are now out at grass. It is always nice to get the calf rearing shed emptied and have calf rearing finished for another year. Calves have settled well at grass and appear to be thriving so far. I think keeping them in that little bit longer this spring has helped the transition.
We have split them into two different grazing groups. The main group will consist of 80-85 calves. These are the earliest and strongest calves and they are currently getting 1.5kg concentrates each day.
The lightest and later-born calves (group of 15-20) have been kept back in a separate group, where they are receiving extra concentrates.
Every year, we have a small number that just need a bit more attention, whether they had a slower start or simply haven’t performed as well. I find it makes more sense to separate them rather than feeding every calf at the higher rate.
It allows us to target the extra meal where it will have the biggest benefit. Any strong calf in this group over the next few weeks can rejoin the main group and likewise any calf that is not doing well in the big group can be pulled back to the smaller group.
The yearling cattle continue to graze in two groups, one of heifers and the other steers. They look to be thriving well. I will weigh them again in a few weeks to monitor their performance and, at that stage, there should be some that can be drafted off for their finishing period.
The main group of calves on Denis Hickey’s farm
Making hay while the sun shines
The month of June was a busy one here on the farm. Thankfully, the weather was on our side for most of it. We took advantage of the dry week at the end of the month to make hay on the farm. A four acre paddock that had gone too strong for grazing was cut and baled on Thursday 25th June. It isn’t every year that the weather allows you to do it, so when the opportunity came along, we took it. In total, we ended up making 380 small square bales. These will come in handy for feeding as a roughage source to calves at grass.
Hay nearly ready for baling on Denis Hickey’s farm
Managing grass quality
Grass growth really took off here during June and while that sounds good, it became difficult to manage grass over the last few weeks.
A number of paddocks on the farm just got too strong for grazing and we took them out as baled silage. Doing this has helped keep the grazing platform under control and ensures the cattle continue grazing leafy, high-quality grass rather than stemmy covers.
There is still slurry in the slatted tank, and we plan to spread this on any paddocks that have had silage bales removed. The plan is to try and spread the slurry when the ground is bare.
We won’t apply it too heavy, reducing the risk of dry weather leaving it caked on the grass.
The grazing fields will get a bag of 18:6:12 to keep them green and to try stop them from getting too stressed and shooting out and going to seed. Rather than spreading small amounts every week, we generally wait until there are enough paddocks ready so that a full bag of fertiliser can be used in the one go.
Reseeding
I managed to get the grass reseed sown on the 26th of May. It was sown in great condition and was rolled the following evening.
It got little or no rain for the first 10 days but, following 30mm of rain on the first weekend in June, the grass seeds have germinated well and there is a now a good cover of grass.
The reseed is getting near the ideal stage for spraying and I will get it sprayed with ProClova soon, to get rid of seedling docks and other weeds at this stage. Rabbits are a bit of a problem around here and the headlands close to the ditch has been well grazed by them!
The plan is to get the strongest calves onto this reseed in the next couple of weeks, once the plants can withstand the ‘pull test’. The calves are ideal as they are light and don’t cause much damage; getting it grazed off early encourages tillering, helps thicken the sward and sets it up to perform well for years to come.
A recently reseeded paddock on Denis Hickey’s farm
Overall, things are tipping along well at present. There is always plenty to do, but having healthy cattle, strong grass growth and decent weather certainly make farming a bit more enjoyable. As always, the challenge is making the most of the opportunities when they come along because, as we all know, the weather never stays settled forever.
The above first appeared in the Farming Examiner as part of a Signpost Programme Update, and was adapted for use on Teagasc Daily.
For more on the Teagasc Signpost Programme, visit here.
Denis Hickey is a participant in the Teagasc DairyBeef 500 Programme, working closely with Teagasc DairyBeef 500 Advisor, Gordon Peppard.