With a window of dryish days forecast, the decision was taken to cut a few paddocks for silage at the weekend. Luck was against me on this occasion as mist descended Monday morning and returned as heavier drizzle before the baler landed. You win some, you lose some in this farming game and fortunately, the main-cut is in a few weeks and was cut in excellent order.
I tolerate a bit of wet silage every year as it’s rare to get it cut in perfect conditions every time. I’d be fussier around the main-cuts but when it’s surplus bales, the priority is on having the grass quality right for the next grazing. That’s once it gets a mix of heat and rain. There was a touch of summer 2024 about the last few weeks as strong winds followed any rain we had.
Counting blessings
A bit of rain earlier than expected is a small complaint. I was chatting to a farming acquaintance in Victoria in Australia recently and he had no water or feed on his farm for two years. I can’t even fathom dealing with the likes of that.
Hearing that would make you less concerned about a drop of rain on surplus bales. It’s a minor inconvenience by comparison. You’d need some arsenal of options to work your way through the likes of that.
Living with it as a possibility means you condition your system of farming to suit, I suppose, and the skills required to deal with it are built up by previous generations who have often learned them the hard way.
Learning along the way
We do the same here to an extent. The weather isn’t as extreme, and neither are most of the weekly decisions that are made on farm. Breeding, grazing, silage, slurry and prioritising general farm work are all in the mix when it comes to decision-making on most livestock farms for now, and hopefully that will be easing off in a few weeks.
The rain gave me a chance to get the power washing going. It’s a chance to add an extra bit of nutrients to the tanks before slurry is spread.
Synchronised breeding
One of the yards is nearly cleaned and ready for the autumn.
Hopefully, there’ll be a chance to sort out any repair work over the next few months and get a clear run at the winter.
I say ‘nearly cleaned’ as there’s a hold-up until this week is passed. The three-week clock for the synchronised heifers is up this Friday and, at the time of writing, I’ve no indication of which animal has held to first service or not.
I’m not going to wash a yard just for them to spend the next three or four days walking back over it again, so for now I’ll stay clear of the washer and observe the heifers instead.
Breeding for most of the older cows hinges on how the heifers do. If a good share repeat, there won’t be many marked for culling. However, if all heifers hold, the bull will have to come out of the cows earlier.
This past week marks the third of the breeding season and most cows, including all bar one of the late calvers, have been bulled so it will be interesting to see which hold.
Some of the first calvers were a bit behind in terms of condition early on as a result of being in with some mature cows in a larger group.
Rain earlier than expected resulted in a damper than planned cut of surplus bales for Tommy Moyles on his farm at Ardfield, Clonakilty, Co Cork.
With a window of dryish days forecast, the decision was taken to cut a few paddocks for silage at the weekend. Luck was against me on this occasion as mist descended Monday morning and returned as heavier drizzle before the baler landed. You win some, you lose some in this farming game and fortunately, the main-cut is in a few weeks and was cut in excellent order.
I tolerate a bit of wet silage every year as it’s rare to get it cut in perfect conditions every time. I’d be fussier around the main-cuts but when it’s surplus bales, the priority is on having the grass quality right for the next grazing. That’s once it gets a mix of heat and rain. There was a touch of summer 2024 about the last few weeks as strong winds followed any rain we had.
Counting blessings
A bit of rain earlier than expected is a small complaint. I was chatting to a farming acquaintance in Victoria in Australia recently and he had no water or feed on his farm for two years. I can’t even fathom dealing with the likes of that.
Hearing that would make you less concerned about a drop of rain on surplus bales. It’s a minor inconvenience by comparison. You’d need some arsenal of options to work your way through the likes of that.
Living with it as a possibility means you condition your system of farming to suit, I suppose, and the skills required to deal with it are built up by previous generations who have often learned them the hard way.
Learning along the way
We do the same here to an extent. The weather isn’t as extreme, and neither are most of the weekly decisions that are made on farm. Breeding, grazing, silage, slurry and prioritising general farm work are all in the mix when it comes to decision-making on most livestock farms for now, and hopefully that will be easing off in a few weeks.
The rain gave me a chance to get the power washing going. It’s a chance to add an extra bit of nutrients to the tanks before slurry is spread.
Synchronised breeding
One of the yards is nearly cleaned and ready for the autumn.
Hopefully, there’ll be a chance to sort out any repair work over the next few months and get a clear run at the winter.
I say ‘nearly cleaned’ as there’s a hold-up until this week is passed. The three-week clock for the synchronised heifers is up this Friday and, at the time of writing, I’ve no indication of which animal has held to first service or not.
I’m not going to wash a yard just for them to spend the next three or four days walking back over it again, so for now I’ll stay clear of the washer and observe the heifers instead.
Breeding for most of the older cows hinges on how the heifers do. If a good share repeat, there won’t be many marked for culling. However, if all heifers hold, the bull will have to come out of the cows earlier.
This past week marks the third of the breeding season and most cows, including all bar one of the late calvers, have been bulled so it will be interesting to see which hold.
Some of the first calvers were a bit behind in terms of condition early on as a result of being in with some mature cows in a larger group.
Rain earlier than expected resulted in a damper than planned cut of surplus bales for Tommy Moyles on his farm at Ardfield, Clonakilty, Co Cork.
SHARING OPTIONS