On a farm visit outside, Knocklong, Co. Limerick. A lorry driver collecting milk from dairy farmers stated that milk volume is back 10% on this time last year. Even though stock numbers have increased this is in anticipation of quota freeing up post 2015.Wet weather has now resulted in dairy cows being rehoused. We have […]
Read MoreVisited a suckler farmer with 160 cows outside Downpatrick, Co. Down. The breakdown with T.B. resulted in the loss of over 60 cows. He purchased a group of 50 replacements called “stabilisers”. This is a breed generated from 4 breeds of cattle including Simmental, Hereford, Gelbvieh, and Red Angus. They are docile and reputably excellent […]
Read MoreThere is excellent management in a dairy farm in Co. Wicklow. I had the pleasure of visiting a dairy farm outside Kiltegan, Co. Wicklow to scan a herd of dairy cows. This farm has excellent handling facilities, which were aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and cow comfort was a priority in the production system. This […]
Read MoreArticle written by Dr. Dan Ryan in the Farming Independent, July 17, 2012 The heavy rainfall in the month of June has surpassed all records since 1947. The implications for the dairy industry in the current year and 2013 will indeed be phenomenal. Farmers have had to face housing of cows by night in June […]
Read MoreOn a farm visit to Co. Carlow we visited a client to scan a herd of dairy cows, where the stock bull was running until 28 days ago. The last visit was 146 days ago. We now have a software system which provides me with a history of the cow scanned. This includes the previous […]
Read MoreOn farm visits in Co. Cork, we noted a significant increase in embryonic mortality. We are now scanning cows in spring calving systems which are between 20 and 85 days pregnant. Heavy rainfall, poor grass quality and poor grazing conditions have resulted in a significant depression in milk yields associated with stressful conditions.
Read More1. Spring breeding programmes are now resulting in April calving in 2013. Do not presume your cows are in calf. Scan your cows now to identify: Non-cycling cows. Cows with embryonic death. Undetected heats in an AI breeding programme. 2. Ensure that beef bulls used either in AI or natural service do not increase either […]
Read MoreVisited 2 farms in Co. Limerick, where we diagnosed a cow carrying triplet heifers which were 85 days old, and a cow with 5 ovulations. The latter cow has previously had twins, Quins and Quads in her previous 3 parities. In my opinion this is a record for natural births by a bovine.
Read MoreVisited a suckler farm beyond Dingle, Co. Kerry where a suckler herd was presented with a range of cross-breeds. The client complained that the late calving cows were taking too long to settle in calf. Scanning revealed that a number of the cows which had calved in the previous three months were in deep anoestrus […]
Read MoreOn a farm visit today outside Dingle, Co. Kerry, a client presented a group of maiden heifers which he planned to sell. He wanted to scan the heifers to verify that they were reproductively sound. His son informed me that they had previously injected them with prostaglandin to ensure that no animal was pregnant. Scanning […]
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