I'll never ever forget 13 ran out of feed on the 20th of May and still had to get silage was very lucky a friend gave me 20 middling bales and some pit silage it was enough roughage to keep them going with a heap of meal and a pluck of grass did some ploughing of the place them years
I hope we get the growth rates you're expecting! Even to go back into covers of 1200 needs a growth rate of 80 every day.
would you not try and source seem good feed with the fodder scheme after been announced, you likely have a good % of paddocks that need to be left recover and build covers, going in on them now and churning them up could screw you for the year
nice day here in mid tipp.good drying and was surprised when I took a load of water from parlour out.going to hang tough on letting them back out as I’m ok for silage.paddocks that are grazed not looking too bad.lucky I got out urea on last Saturday of January and had nearly 1/2 re done again
Was talking to the lad from Samco today. Maize seed orders are gone ballistic. Apparently a lot of tillage guys are planing to grow it this year as well.
That's not so much a rotation as a vortex!
tillage boys up here going for maize ..beet and even cover crops ….they’d want to be well covered as regards payment and guarantee any customer that want it will take it ….straw looking to be a major problem
As far as I recall 2011 was a dull wet summer but was a great year for silage yield. I recall getting 88 bales off a 7 acre paddock at one stage. And I remember the bales to the acre yield being a talking point on here for many. There was a very short mild winter that year. Christmas Day 2011 was 20 degrees warmer than Christmas Day 2010!! . I remember talking to a guy who was confidently predicting he wouldn’t need to make silage in 2012!!! Such was his surplus. There was good growth and some cattle were grazing around here in Feb/march . However From April onwards it all went downhill. The summer that year was an absolute **** show. 2013 there was a dry cold east wind the entire spring. Growth was absent but ground was dry. That’s the big difference this year. No two fodder crisis are the same. This one is probably more similar weather wise to the 1985/86 crisis. Wet summer followed by a wet extended winter/spring. Although the tillage situation this year was probably never as dire.
From vet Stock update
Estrumate - due to production error it will be out of stock until July / August
Questions for lads with Maize... what size pit would be ideal for 15 acres? Any what kind of covering does it need, 2 sheets plastic and mesh/netting to keep off birds?
I was thinking something similar. Iv a river near the yard. Id just fear I wouldn't be able to keep the rats out of it.
That was an interesting trial growing the beans with maize. It doesn't seem to raise the protein by much but it might help to cut down on the nitrogen.
The thing is with the nitrates restricting stocking rates you would wonder where there should be any need to buy in maize. Lads should have enough land to grow the feed for their allowed stock numbers.
A few ferral cats should do the job.
And make sure those cats "have an appetite" as the experts say about cows going out to grass in this weather 😀
agree but this bullshit 80% rule if your in dero needs changing
we’re just gone in to dero as well now this year. What’s the 80% rule?
80% of your land has to be in grassland each year
going to grow an extra 10 acres of maize here this year to build up a good fodder bank. Those 10 extra acres are in stubble any way abd wouldn’t grow a whole lot of forage after being reseeded in comparison to a maize crop.
F**k this weather....... that is all
yep finally got to me 😀….**** day Monday cows in at 11 staid in Monday night …in again tonight warm soft wet rain falling most of day ……I’ve a fairly dry farm but it’s fair wet …I see the promised improvement has been shoved out to next week now 🥲🥲
WTF?
Who came up with that reg? I’m supposing it’s the greens?
Totally ridiculous..other than satisfying the 3 crop rule, you should be allowed grow whatever you want. When the dero goes farmers will be totally focused on eliminating bought -in feed. Having to keep 80% in grassland could make that impracticable..works into the hands of feed importers and merchants though. The IFA needs to get its ass in gear and kill this 80% rule before it gets bedded into long term regs. It goes against everything that Irish dairy should be aiming for.
Patience. Stopped raining here yesterday morning and nothing for the foreseeable. About time too because it’s the equivalent to the end of May with you. Silage to cut Monday if ground is trafficable.
Patience.
it wasn’t really an issue till now till you needed more land for the same cows and you could spread 250kg n
Lads could grow lots of grass and under 1t of nuts was fine because it was a simple enough system
Now we have this extra land so the focus has changed a bit to see can we reduce bought in feed a bit
I know a man with a serious herd of Holsteins not far from your home place that just ended up taking more land to get out of dero so he could get away from the 80% rule
It doesn't really go against everything Irish dairying is aiming for, seeing as Irish dairy is marketed as being predominantly grass-fed
Cats are natural born killers. Mistake a lot of lads is not feeding them. Cats will kill more or less for the pleasure of it. A strong fit younger cat is always hunting.
On rats the best way is a bait system. You need to have it in place 2-3 weeks before the maize comes in. Blocks on wire in tubes are the best and keep them topped up. Getting them killed as they enter the yard is much more efficient than trying to eliminate after they enter and breed.
Cats are an issue with bale silage, they climb on and damage the bales. Another issue with maize is if the field is near you. Amount 4-7 days after harvesting rats will migrate out of the field and try to find new feed sources as the grain spilled at harvest will have been used up.
it’s ridiculous …I wanted to grow 15 acres barley mainly for the straw and can as it will take me over the 20%
Who would know, say nothing
I'm assuming people have watched this before but I went on something of a farm walk last night and found it useful.
It's a Grasstec video about a cubicle shed with Vince Dorney from O'Donovan Engineering.
I won't be doing anything on this scale (180 cows) but I picked up a few bits and pieces all the same.
I was going to grow 6 acres spring barley like we always did but it would just cost too much for the benefit. The sprays are the expensive part. 80% rule doesn't affect me. Also considering maize but think my fields are too open to the wind and maize would get knocked over. Will concentrate on silage quality.
Sure wicklow calf company doesn't buy from the marts. Everybody knows that like. 😉
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