Storm Lorenzo didn’t pose too many problems for Tullamore Farm this week. Increased rainfall has left grazing a little more difficult though.

Clean-outs have taken a hit, with cows not finishing out paddocks as clean as they were two weeks ago.

This is posing an issue around some of the heavier covers, but the ewe groups have been brought in to deal with these. They seem to be better able to cope with the heavy covers.

Flushing

Ewes have started flushing prior to tipping, so it suits to move them to this good grass.

Grass growth for the past seven days was 51kg DM/ha/day, which is strong for the time of year. Nitrogen spread in early September has really boosted grass growth.

Demand is currently 31kg DM/ha/day, so days ahead and average farm cover continue to build.

Average farm cover is currently at 1,239kg DM/ha, so it's ahead of our target of 1,100kg DM/ha at the moment.

Paddocks grazed from now on will be closed, with a target of closing 60% of the farm by early November.

Weaning

Weaning is continuing, with a few cows being drafted every couple of days out of the bull calf and the heifer calf groups.

Calves continue to graze ahead of the cows via a raised fence and bull calves are currently on 2.5kg/head/day, while heifer calves are on 1kg/head/day.

Calves were weighed this week, with heifer calves coming in at 302kg and bull calves coming in at 322kg.

Bull calves have gained 1.31kg/day since birth, while heifer calves have gained 1.19kg/day since birth.

Finishing

Beef heifers and cull cows continue to be meal-fed at grass. They are currently on 5kg ration/head/day being fed in paddocks.

More heifers will be drafted next week, while cows are still two to three weeks away. If weather conditions continue to deteriorate, these finishing animals will be housed and finished indoors.

With housing spaces tight on the farm, we need to have these animals gone by the time the main cow groups are housed.

Sale preparation

Preparation continues for our in-calf heifer sale being held in Tullamore Mart on bank holiday Monday 28 October at 6pm.

We have 20 in-calf heifers selected for the sale. All heifers are scanned in-calf to AI or the Salers stock bull.

All heifers have also been genotyped and have been vaccinated for BVD, lepto and pneumonia.

The heifers are all four- or five-star animals, with positive sub-indices on milk and carcase weight.