Mating
Well, we are 6 days into mating and the cows are cycling like crazy. We have mated 128 of 290 so far but I have a wee confession to make….. The last blog I said we were going to milk the 2 and 3yr cows on OAD, but spring never came so we put the whole herd on OAD, and I think it’s the best thing we could have done considering the payout and the lack of grass to feed. We have also done a double PG program on the R2s and AI’d, so hopefully we will get some nice replacements from them next spring. And just to make me even more time poor my AI run is starting to get busy!
Cropping
We have also made changes to the cropping. We were going to grow 5ha of Spitfire rape, but have changed that to HT rape, and we are also adding 3ha of HT bulb turnips. Hopefully the extra area cropped will get us through the predicted drought. We are also still putting the normal area into maize, with 8ha going into Pioneer P0891 and 2ha of HSR Maximus. I would like to grow more but can only afford to take so much out of the dairy platform.
Calf weaning
Calf weaning is well under way, we are trying to weigh once a week and are weaning on weight. We are rearing 80 calves and have weaned 33 off milk thus far. We will keep them on meal until they head off to grazing in late December/early January.
