On a farm call outside Castleisland, Co. Kerry. Where fodder shortage is a major issue. I visited 1 farmer who is feeding 3kg\’s of an 18% protein ration + ad lib straw. The Holstein Friesian heifers are currently achieving their target growth rates on this diet.
Read MoreOn calls in counties Cork and Limerick, a major focus is the cutting of grass for silage production. It is a case that this should have been cut at least 6 weeks previously. The quality of this forage will be very poor and fed to dry cows they will in many cases lose body condition […]
Read MoreWe scanned a cow outside Cappoquin, Co. Waterford. We scanned a 22 year old cow carrying a bull calf at 53 days. The client could not believe it as he had wished to cull her because of age.
Read MoreVisited a client outside Tallow, Co. Waterford who presented a herd of 100 cows for scanning. Stock bulls had been used with the herd – a friesian bull initially and then a limousin bull for the last eight weeks. We identified one cow carrying a set of identical twins. The client was trilled and more […]
Read MoreClients in Co. Derry informed me that over 400 dairy cows are going through the abattoir on a daily basis, because of feed shortages.
Read MoreCurrent costs of milk production average 26.8 pence per litre on dairy farms in Northern Ireland. Whereas milk price is 26.2 pence, at these levels there will be a large exodus from the dairy industry in Northern Ireland.
Read MoreVisited a short-horn breeder outside Tipperary town where short-horn cows were presented for scanning. These animals had been previously presented and had reproductive problems. In a number of cases the same problems arose with embryonic death in the same animals. These were pedigree short horns and an analysis of their pedigrees revealed in-breeding. This may […]
Read MoreOn a farm visit outside Kilmallock where 120 dairy cows and 37 replacement heifers were presented for scanning. The breeding programme lasted 84 days with 57 days of AI and a stock bull with both the cows and heifers for the remaining month. The overall empty rate in the dairy cows was 23% and of […]
Read MoreVisited a dairy farm outside Kilfinane, Co. Limerick with a Holstein dairy herd. Adverse weather conditions have left it difficult to use tail-painting as a tool for oestrus detection. Cows were housed indoors and the client had no option but to continue a breeding programme with cows calving into June next year. Pregnancy rates to […]
Read MoreOn a farm visit in Co. Monaghan, we had another farm visit where calving dates uploaded from an existing database to my scanner revealed cows in calf greater than when cows calved. A bureaucratic system of payments for beef has encouraged farmers to delay registering their calves. In addition I have encountered delaying registration in […]
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