Page 56 - Farm Programmes News Today

CAFRE demonstrating sustainable high output lamb from grass 2021-04-28

Con Barry If rain doesn’t arrive by the weekend, crops will come under pressure, says Con. While some moisture was forecast at the time of writing this, it remains to be seen if it will be enough to alleviate the dry conditions in north Kerry. With that said, conditions have been excellent for getting work done this spring, says Con, and land is in great shape. Con will finish planting the last of his maize this week. He will finish planting his 72ac of maize this week. Spring cereal sowin...

SHARING OPTIONS: Stephen and Hazels calves had an average LWG of 0.83 kg/calf/day at six months of age. Rearing dairy heifers to reach specific weight targets is a critical part of reducing replacement costs and enhancing profit on Dairylink Ireland farms. Programme participants are asked to weigh their heifers at various stages during the rearing period. The main targets are 360-400kg liveweight at 14 to 15 months old for first service and calving down at...

  Wednesday 27 April sees the third episode of our Tullamore Farm webinar series take place. The webinar will be hosted by the Irish Farmers Journal editor and CEO Justin McCarthy who will be joined by livestock specialist Declan Marren, sustainability specialist Siobhan Walsh, beef editor Adam Woods and Tullamore Farm manager Shaun Diver. Achieving maximum live weight gain from grass is a central pillar on Tullamore Farm and Shaun Diver will outline how he manages grass achieve this while k...

A pollinator patch being planted on Tullamore Farm. This spring on Tullamore Farm, there is a focus being placed on pollinators and wildlife in general. The aim is to protect habitats already there, create new habitats and increase pollinator numbers. There are plenty of grass margins on the farm and these margins and verges will not be mowed or treated with pesticides. Plants that grow naturally, such as dandelions, daisies, vetch and grasses, can provide plenty of food for pollinators and c...

SHARING OPTIONS: Cattle bred from the dairy herd have a poorer conformation and kill-out percentage in comparison with progeny from the suckler herd. Over recent years, our national dairy herd has become an increasingly important source of raw material for the Irish beef sector. Last year, dairy-bred progeny accounted for 57% of the cattle processed at meat plants, having risen steadily from 47% in 2010. Dairy beef also dominates across the EU-27, whose ov...

  A health plan is a must on all farms and dairy-beef systems are no different. Farmers should keep themselves familiar with the plan and it needs to adapt and change over time as the farm changes and new issues are encountered 1 Consult your vet First and foremost, consult your local vet when coming up with a health plan for your farm. They are the experts in this area and will be able to guide you through the process, ensuring nothing is overlooked along the way. Consider all issues that ha...

Thrive demo farm 26 August 2020 There has been a dramatic increase in the usage of beef sires on the dairy herd over the last 10 years, with the number of beef calves born almost doubling from 378,000 in 2010 to 718,000 in 2020. In this article we will examine the impact of these changes in terms of overall numbers, breed preferences, AI usage, genetic trends and actual performance for carcase traits over the period. We will also look at the what the next 10 years is expected to bring in terms ...

SHARING OPTIONS: The target is to have bullocks at 353kg and heifers at 338 kg on 11 March at turnout. With beef finishing margins extremely tight, there is no room for error or poor performance in any beef system. This is particularly true in a dairy-calf-to-beef system. A prolonged period of poor performance or what is often referred to as a store period will have a severe impact on animals’ ability to hit weight targets and will significantly increas...

Yearling heifers at grass in early spring on the demonstration farm.\ Philip Doyle While measuring the physical performance of animals is important and gives farmers a good indication that production targets are being constantly met, these systems need to stack up financially if they are to have a sustainable future on Irish farms. Diet proportions Figures 1 and 2 show the makeup of each proportion of the diet on a dry matter (DM) basis for heifers and steers. This shows that grazed grass is m...