We are firmly in winter mode, with the daily routine fairly established. I hosted a group of students on the farm recently. It’s good to be on the receiving end of questions from different sets of eyes. Sometimes you get new ideas, or you justify why you are doing something, but what it always gets me thinking about is how we used to do things.

The biggest change over the last 10 or 20 years would be the labour side of things and the outlook on the business as a whole. There’s more cattle here than a decade ago but the workload is significantly reduced.

There are times that it’s good to have over 10 miles between us and the option to hang up the phone is there

The farm is still fragmented but we have a better handle on what jobs and decisions make sense or not. Myself and Dad would have a few different chats during the week on long- and short-term decisions. There are times that it’s good to have over 10 miles between us and the option to hang up the phone is there but what we’ve discovered is talking through the work and planning it can save money, sweat and time.

We’ve worked at reducing the artificial fertiliser use and reducing ration use is the next target

Breeding has evolved since the herd started. The move to finishing cattle made us much more aware of market place requirements and this in turn has had a major influence on breeding decisions. We’ve worked at reducing the artificial fertiliser use and reducing ration use is the next target.

Breeding will form a part of that, with more traditional breeds being used.

Regular contact is maintained with the contractor and vet too. It helps to reduce the number of surprise jobs, eg having a health plan in place. This is a legacy from the BTAP or Knowledge Transfer scheme. As the year goes on, the time spent sitting down and talking through this with our vet saves more time.

Our vet suggested putting a plan in place to move from routine dosing to doing faecal egg counts and dosing if required instead

For example, the potential for anthelmintic resistance was raised during the annual health plan a few years back. Our vet suggested putting a plan in place to move from routine dosing to doing faecal egg counts and dosing if required instead. I was a bit sceptical at first to see how it would work but it’s proving a great labour-saver too. Cattle are now being put through the yard two or three times less a year.

Worm dose

Looking back over the year, the weanling heifers got a worm dose in September and that was it. There were years when they would have got one in June, another ahead of weaning and again at housing. That was the routine and that was it. The bull calves have got two as they had high worm counts but these are now significantly reduced.

The in-calf heifers will get a rumen fluke dose as will about 20% or less of the cows

Dung sample results indicate they shouldn’t require any further treatment.

The in-calf heifers will get a rumen fluke dose as will about 20% or less of the cows. These will be those in lower body condition. It’s a far cry from what used to be the campaign of winter dosing of previous years.

Cull heifer numbers were low this year but only five of the 12 got a worm dose since they were housed as weanlings. They would usually be gone before Christmas but this year there will be a few left for the new year. With numbers backed up in the autumn, a decision was made to delay the final finishing period for them.

I don’t know if I was any use to the students but hopefully they might learn something from the mistakes we made over the years.