BE GOOD TO PARTNERS/SPOUSES

• Recently a mother and farmer in her 60s asked me to remind young male farmers, in particular, to ‘be good’ to wives/partners.
• I don’t know why she was motivated to ask but when you look at the facts, she has a point.
• Many young partners/spouses are working off-farm, she said, and commented the following:
  • Many of these partners are driving long journeys to and from work each day, sometimes taking one to two hours.
  • They are preparing children for, delivering them to, and collecting them from crèches and school.
  • Then, they work an eight-hour day.
  • They prepare meals, sometimes breakfast dinner, and tea.
  • They wash and iron clothes.
  • They clean and tidy the house.
  • They oversee children’s homework.
  • They prepare children for bed.
  • And more.
• What did she mean by ‘be good’? She explained:
  • First of all, realise all the tasks that women – in this example – have to undertake.
  • Then, help with the household duties as listed above.
  • A woman’s life on a farm can sometimes be very lonely (this particular woman was a stay-at-home mother, far removed from college friends and family).
  • Socialise more as a couple, going to events other than funerals, weddings, matches, church, community meetings, etc. 
• Why does ‘being good’ in this context not happen more often?
  • Is it attitude? Men sometimes feel that they have to work very long hours on farm to get the work done and deliver income to the household. That is probably true, but most are very disorganised when it comes to time management.
  • Is it not ‘cool’ to say: ‘I have to help with the housework’ or ‘I can’t go out as I have to put the children to bed’?
  • Why do some farmers milk late in the evening? I have heard it said that they do so to miss the bedlam in the house before the young children settle down for bed.
• With divorce or separation an option now and occurring more frequently in Irish society, people have options.
• A change of attitude is required:
  • Define what are your most important priorities in life.
    • Several years ago, when I was promoting better time management on farms, I asked each member of the discussion group to write down the answer to the following question: If you were told you had six months to live, what would you do during that period?
    • Almost 100 per cent answered that they would spend more time with their family.
    • Men giving a greater commitment to family life and sharing the household workload will bring about a massive change in how they manage their farms and their time on their farms.
  • It should not be necessary to work every hour of the day to get the work done. 
    
    • If you are pretty organised and having to work long hours, then it is certain you need to employ help on the farm, or cut back on the scale of your operation,
    • Be aware of all the new technologies that time-save on farms.
  • Household help, in many cases, is required – unfortunately, some men object to this practice. Maybe au pairs would help in the early stages of child-rearing?
  • Make a family-time-management plan and operate your farm to allow you to deliver on our greatest priority – more time with family.
• Self-analysis on this topic is painful and guilt-ridden for all of us.

CASH VERY TIGHT ON FARMS

• A terribly difficult year has resulted in cash being very tight on many farms.
• Now is the time to take action:
  • Take steps to reduce cost and unnecessary spending,
  • Reduce stock numbers on the farm,
    • Poor milkers, eating the same amount of grass as good ones, should be sold.
    • Non-pregnant cows, lame cows, high SCC cows should be culled now.
    • Carrying extra replacements is totally unjustifiable.
• Listen to dairy farmer, Sean O’Donnell on the Teagasc Dairy Edge podcast on the simple ways he manages his finances. It is an excellent listen!

THIRD-LAST NITROGEN

• Hard to believe! But be sure to apply as the return on money invested is massive.
  • One should take advantage of good growth rates to build up winter feed reserves.
  • But always make quality bales in such circumstances to feed instead of purchased meal when grass is tight.
  • Follow the recommendations given in Table 1, making sure you use up your full nitrogen (N) allowance
  • If lower stocking rate, no N until mid-August.
  • It may be possible to use slightly more on milking blocks if less is used elsewhere.
  • Remember, by late July, over 80 per cent of your annual N should have been applied.
  • If, in early July you haven’t over 66 per cent of your N applied, rectify by applying a bit more now, otherwise, you will not be able to build up grass in autumn.
  • For every one tonne of dry matter (DM) your grass yield is lower than last year and you are up-to-date on N spread, then there is an extra 25kg (20 units) N in the soil. Take into consideration when applying N now. 

Table 1: Nitrogen application (Kg/N/ha) strategy, based on clover content in April. Source: Teagasc.

• Protected urea is the N product of choice.
• Stick with one spreading day of the whole farm in the month.
  • There will be some cover of grass to give a shading effect from the sun and there will probably be more dew on the grass.
  • It is working well on farms, but according to Moorepark it results in 3-5% less in grass growth during the main summer months. This is small for the benefits and farmers are wasting much more than that amount of grass by poor grazing management.
• Sulphur deficiency is widespread on a wide range of soils.
  • Between May and September, 20 units/acre should be applied on all light soils. If not yet applied, do it now.
• Where potassium (K) and phosphorous (P) are less than optimum, there is merit in applying one bag 27:2.5:5 in July.
  • Very many farms are low in potash – one bag of muriate of potash should now be applied to fields low in K.
• Lime should be applied now after silage cutting – it is the most important of all soil nutrients.
  • Only apply slurry where it should go – silage ground.
  • For every four bales of silage taken off the grazing area, apply 100 gallons of slurry, 

PUT VALUE ON FEEDSTUFFS

• Because of the impending deficit of winter feed, we need to look, now, at the cost/value of other feeds relative to barley (€240/t) and soyabean meal (€48/t), so as to make good economic decisions.
• Table 2 gives you the value of dry feeds relative to barley (€240/t) and Soyabean Meal (€478/t).
• It is noticeable that all are more expensive than the barley-soya combo. Except the PKE quotation but the high percentage protein may cause issues for derogation farmers.
  • I have been informed that the company selling PKE will give you a letter to say that you were buffer feeding due to grass shortage and needed the extra protein in the diet – your planner will send the letter to the relevant authority.
  • Insert your own cost in the right-hand column and compare.
• I have inserted some actual costs, received from farmers.
• To interpret the table:
  • UFL defines the energy level in the feed – the higher the better.
  • PDIE defines the protein level in the meal; to get the percentage figure divide the figure in the column by 10.
• Beet pulp is a great feed with grass as it has high energy with digestible fibre.
  • Soya hulls are an excellent source of fibre and of moderate energy (UFL).
  • Palm kernal can be self-fed in the paddock but be careful not to
    over-feed.

Table 2: Value of feedstuffs relative to barley and soyabean meal.

• Table 3 gives you the value of wet feeds relative to barley (€240/t) and soyabean meal (€478/t).
• The issues with buying wet feeds is:
  • You can easily buy ‘a pig in a poke’ because without analysis you don’t know what you are getting for your money.
  • The DM of the product changes the value.
  • You also need to factor in a 10 per cent wastage loss onto the cost.
• Before buying a wet feed, you must do an estimate of the cost and compare with the ‘value per tonne’ column.   

Table 3: Value of wet feeds relative to barley and soyabean meal.

• Now is the time to make decisions to overcome a winter-feed crisis.

TIME TO CONTROL DOCKS

• Docks are the bane of dairy farmers’ lives and, apart from being unsightly, cost money. One dock (big one) every 35m² reduces grass yield by 1% per acre, which represents a loss €7-€13 per acre.
• One, decide on the spray to use.
  • This decision is based on the amount of clover in the pasture.
  • Type of dock also influences choice.
• Best results are got by spraying three to four weeks after cutting silage.
  • Grass growth is slow relative to the growth of the dock.
  • Grass ground cover is low resulting in less loss of grass yield.
  • Spray now in July or August.
  • Spray on warm, sultry days.
  • If going to stitch in clover next year, kill the docks this year.
• Give serious consideration to spot spraying where docks aren’t too plentiful.
  • A job for a holiday student – make sure to show him/her how and get them to think how to map out the area to be done so as to miss none.

CHECK R1s AND R2s WEIGHTS

• On July 1, R1s should be 27% of the cows’ weight:
  • Friesian (560kg) – 150kg.
  • Jersey cross (530kg) – 143kg.
  • Calves less that these weights must get special attention.
• Calf weight at six months has a major influence on bulling weight, which influences the following:
  • They will not calve in the first 15 days of the calving season.
  • First calvers are yielding 500-1,000L of milk below their potential, mainly because they are too small at calving.
  • I find the wastage from first to second calvings is very high, due to R2s calving down too small and being badly managed from calving to service.
• Research has shown that moderate R1s on July 1 can make good weanlings on November 1 if grazing management between July and November is top drawer.
• Practice the leader-follower system.
  • R1s should graze in front of the cows or the R2s.
  • Calves will thrive really well while the R2s will also perform well.
  • Don’t graze too tight and top if necessary. Parasites will have no effect on the calves.
• All farms have late, small R1s. How do you manage them to gain most weight cheaply with as little extra work as possible? 
  • Let these graze in front of the main bunch of calves on the very best of grass.
  • If that isn’t possible give them fresh grass in front of cows or R2s.
  • Stay feeding milk/replacer to them until they are 125-130kg weight.
  • 1-2kg of meal could be justified to these but don’t keep them near the house in a calf paddock to feed meals because parasites will prevent thrive.
  • Another option is to put two small calves in each cow paddock and leave them there, even as cows come to the paddock. They will thrive really well, and no meals or dosing is needed. This is called the ‘buddy-buddy’ system of management. All you need is two strands of wire and I know farmers who have successfully done it.
  • It is best to give best quality grass and no meals than to give them poor quality grass with meals.
  • Move calves into aftergrass, particularly on outside farms and keep them on it for as long as possible.
• No meals should be fed to strong calves, that is, calves 10-15kg above target.
• To prevent stomach worms with minimum dosing, keep calves on aftergrass as long as possible.
  • Give a white or yellow dose in early July and move to aftergrass, having left them on the old paddock to ‘flush out’ all the worms.
• R2 targets – 67% of mature cow weight now:
  • Friesian: 375kg.
  • Jersey cross: 355kg.
• Animals under these weights should get priority treatment. By grazing them with calves or else in front of the main heifer mob. Very small animals will respond to meals(16-18% P).
• If you have replacements out on contract, you must have weights for all animals now; done by an independent scales person. The ICBF provides this service and it is good value.
  • All agreements should have this clause included as it reassures both parties.
• Keep R2s away from areas where flies are prevalent.

WHEN TO STOP BREEDING? 

• Decide on your last calving date for 2025. It is high time farmers tightened up the calving pattern because late calvers are generally infertile and uneconomical.
• Relate service date to calving date and act.

Service     Calving date

July 6        April 15

July 12     April 21

July 18     April 27

July 24     May 3

• The following targets should be set as the absolute limit to finish bulling:
  • Dry land: July 6.
  • ‘Late’ land: July 12
• With two to three weeks of the breeding season remaining, vigilance is required to identify all bulling cows.
  • The pay off will be great with fewer cull cows to off load – a loss of €700-€1,000 per cow.    
  • Put a chin-ball on the stock bull to identify the expected calving date.
  • You need one bull per 20-25 expected bulling cows.

MANAGE GRASS BY MEASURING

• No one would have predicted that the difficult management of grass would continue from spring to July.
  • Grass DM yields per hectare are reduced by 0.5t on average.
  • Silage quantities in pits is greatly reduced and will pose a big challenge for next winter.
  • Milk solids (MS) yield per cow are down 30kg; a drop in farm profits, to date of €60-€90 per cow.
• On July 1, we are halfway through the grass year. Can we recover lost ground? We must try! How?
• Maintain the highest quality grass and minimise topping by achieving target grass covers for the farm stocking rate and rotation length.
  • If you must top, only do one to two paddocks per week so as to prevent shortages in next rotation.
• Table 4 outlines the target grazing covers.

Table 4: Grazing targets for various grazing stocking rates

•  Your DIY to estimating grass cover is as follows:

1. Establish your stocking rate (cows per hectare) on the grazing area.
2. Work on a rotation length of 25 days approx. – it could be 21-22 days if growth is over 70kg DM/day (possible).
3. Calculate daily demand per hectare by multiplying your stocking rate by 18 which is the number of kilogrammes of DM that should be given to a cow for a day.
4. Calculate the pre-grazing cover (PGC) by multiplying the rotation length by your daily grass demand and adding on post-grazing residual, targeted at 50kg DM/ha.

• Finally, calculate the average farm cover (AFC) required by multiplying your stocking rate by 200 (220 in wet land) – 180 would be ok with high growth rates.
• If the PGC is greater than the target figure, then the ‘strong’ paddocks should be removed for cutting only if the AFC is also greater than the target.
• If the PGC and AFC are less than the targets, then meal (palm kernal or soya hulls) or baled silage (preferable option if silage not scarce) must be introduced.
• Any farmer not measuring grass will not survive this financially difficult year.
• This is the way to manage your grass to maximise milk yield and protein so as to increase farm profits.

Brief notes

• Now is the time to prepare for August reseeding but AFC will have a huge influence on this decision:
  • Identify the poorest grass-yielding field on PastureBase, as the economic response will be greatest on these.
  • Spray silage or grazing (1,200+ grass cover) fields with roundup in mid-late July, cut/graze of seven to 10 days later, leaving no trash and then sow by way of min-till. Apply lime and N, P and K.
• Start to build up Autumn grass from July 20-26, either by:
  • Reducing stocking rate.
    • Because of the winterfeed situation, this must be high priority; start NOW by selling off poor yielder, high SCC cows and cows not in calf.
• Increasing nitrogen.
• Closing up for a third cut to graze on July 20-26 is the best option.
  • Stock cows on the grazing area at 3.6-4 cows/ha; apply two bags 0:7:30 and 50-60 units N per acre
• Slowing down rotation length to 26-30 days.
• As first cuts were taken early, it is important to cut second cuts six weeks after the first cut. Yield will not improve and the quality, usually low, will deteriorate fast.
• A strong case can be made this year to feed 3-4 kg meal to reduce daily grazing demand during this ‘build-up’ period.
• Castrate bull calves – more advisable advice is to sell off now.
• Cow lameness is an issue of many farm; the wet year and damaged roadways hasn’t helped. Get the FRS to look at the herd.
• Empty slurry tanks now – use trailed and shoe.
• Winter feed is going to be an issue on many farms as overall grass yield is down; therefore, begin steps now to minimise the problem later.
  • Refer to last months management hints for detail.
  • With expected good growth rates, it should be possible to close up significant areas for silage by stocking cows at 3.6-4 cows per ha and R2s at 2,400kg/ha. Fertilise the remainder for silage.
  • PKE is easier fed now to cows than during winter and should be used to keep grazing SR high.
  • Value for money rented silage ground may be available.
• To free up some time:
  • Milk cows 13 times per week.
  • Milk cows at 16-8-hour intervals.
  • Spread fertiliser once per month.
  • Instead of topping, cut strong paddocks for silage and graze at correct cover.
  • From what I see and hear most dairy farmers badly need a complete break off farm for a week or so. As it was a very difficult year, all farmers have not had a break – not even one day or night – since February 1. Make a plan to get away for a break.

Quotes of the month
“Don’t say ‘I help around the house’ because who are you helping?”

Author unknown (but could be my wife of 52 years!).

“Never regret the things you did; you regret the things you didn’t do.”

Michael Flatley.