Farm management tips for August 2023
By Daniel Hession – Nutritionist & Technical Manager
1.Grassland management
Grazing conditions have been hampered - especially on heavier soils – by the heavy rainfall in July. Wet weather techniques such as 12-hour allocations and back fencing should be implemented. On heavier farms, on-off grazing to minimise damage should be practiced. Animals will not make good use of very high grass covers at the minute, so try and keep animals grazing covers of 1,300-1,500kg DM/ha.
The focus now also needs to turn to building grass supply for autumn grazing. Average Farm Cover (AFC) needs to be increased, and rotation length extended. When to start building grass and the specific farm cover targets depend on farm stocking rate, but on highly stocked farms (>3.0LU/ha), plans should be made to start building grass from this week. Demand can be reduced by selling empty cows. Grass growth needs to be maximised so consider applying nitrogen now to all paddocks. Apply fertiliser in early August to get the best response. In all cases, complete an autumn grass budget.
2. Dairy
Book a scanner to scan your herd between five to seven weeks after mating end date (last recorded service). Identifying cows not in calf now will allow you to remove them from the milking herd. This will reduce demand for grass and generate cash once sold. As well as this, it gives you the information required to review the success of your breeding season just ended.
Prepare roadways for autumn, a high-risk time for lameness. Examine and repair road surfaces in high traffic areas, and on parts of the farm not grazed since spring. Clear grass verges to allow surface water to flow into the field.
As workload eases at this time of year, it is a good opportunity to review your housing for the winter period and to carry out any necessary repairs to broken cubicles or feed barriers or to replace broken slats etc.
3. Beef
Bulls should have been removed from most spring-calving herds by mid-July, with scanning happening five weeks later. This will allow you to pick out empty cows and target to sell live or slaughter before the winter begins.
August signals the month where many farmers are thinking about castrating calves before they reach six months of age. Ensure all the equipment is clean to reduce the risk of infection and ensure the equipment is in good working condition - if using a burdizzo check that the jaws are parallel and closing uniformly across their width.
Wet conditions will affect calf performance particularly where animals are on a grass only diet. Introducing creep feed will drive liveweight gain through August and maximise sale weight in animals destined for weanling sales in autumn.
4.Sheep
Don’t allow ewes to lose too much condition after weaning. Pick out thin ewes and run them on better grass so that they can gain condition. Thin ewes may need up to 12 weeks of preferential feeding to pick up enough body condition before the breeding season. Go through your rams and see what if any replacements are required. Replacement rams should be sourced early in the season when the selection of rams available is greater.
Lamb performance is reportedly poor mainly due to the wet weather and associated low dry matter grass. Read our feature article for top tips on maximising lamb performance post weaning here https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/maximising-lamb-performance-post-weaning/.
Consider establishing a finishing group where the heaviest lambs (> 40kg) are drafted into the group and supplemented with concentrate at 250 - 500g/day for a short period of time until drafted. Lamb daily gain is increased and kill out and fat score will also be improved.
5. Fodder supply
Complete a fodder budget for next winter now. Options are available to fill the gap, but the key is to act early.
