April 10, 2021, 6:10 am
Buying a new stock bull can be both an enjoyable and stressful experience for suckler farmers.
In one way, new genetics will be entering the herd, but farmers always need to be cautious in ensuring that they make the right purchase – especially when spending big money.
There are two methods of buying a bull; at the mart, or directly off-farm. Due to Covid-19 guidelines, buying a bull through a mart has changed slightly.
For farmers that are planning to buy a pedigree bull through breed society sales, the guidelines currently in place at some marts stipulate that exhibitors cannot stay with their bulls during pre-sale viewing times.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
Methane is the largest contributor with 64% of the total. At farm level, Irish dairy farmers are using EBI to breed more efficient, profitable cows.
The EBI allows farmers to:
Deliver higher milk solids from grazed grass;
Improve dairy cow fertility which leads to longer lactations and reduces replacement rates.
Cow comparison
Martin compared the performance of two cows within the Kildalton dairy herd, cow number 3098 (a Jersey crossbred cow) and cow number 3102 (a Holstein Friesian cow), both being third calvers.
Martin stated: ”Cow number 3098 produced 7,684kg of milk in her second lactation, with cow number 3102 producing almost 2,000 less kg of milk.
April 1, 2021, 6:20 am
By definition, disbudding is the removal of an area of skin, including the horn bud, in a young calf prior to solid attachment of the horn bud to the skull.
Where practical, calves should be disbudded while horn development is still at the horn bud stage, or at the first available handling opportunity beyond this age.
This is because the procedure involves less tissue trauma when horn development is still at the horn bud stage, and there is no attachment of horn to the skull of the animal.
Checklist for hot-iron disbudding
No matter if the cauterising iron is heated by fire, propane, battery or AC current, the barrel must be larger than the horn bud so that a complete ring of tissue around the horn bud base is cauterised. Workers should wear gloves to protect their hands;
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March 16, 2021 6:20 am
As St. Patricks day approaches, so does the one million mark for calf registrations. Currently calf registrations are 44,166 ahead of last year’s figure, with a total of 996,574 calves registered since the beginning of 2021.
Concerns still remain about what will happen these calves as prices being paid for calves in marts have fallen and exports are also falling behind due to the lack of demand for calves on the continent.
Calf trade: Shipping calves receive a setback in price again
The week ending March 12, saw some 124,564 calves being registered, which is actually a decrease compared to last year’s figure for the same time period, when 132,021 calves were registered.