Herd Tasks: Your weekly farming checklist

• Request a silage analysis for nutrients and minerals so that you can construct a winter feed budget.
• I recently tested some 2024 first-cut silages, and unfortunately, there are not too many good ones in pits or bales.
• Most were made from grass growing since August/September of last year and had not received the required nutrition, coupled with being cut late and over-wilted.
• Continue to apply fertiliser. Growth has improved recently, so push on grass now for either grazing or extra silage.
• Plan to get your straw supply in for the winter once the harvest starts. Winter grain harvest will begin very soon.
• Continue to routinely treat stock for parasites – especially calves. Alternate dosing active ingredients and methods to prevent resistance. Use dung or milk samples to guide your treatment requirements.

Dairy

• Any concentrates being fed at present should be based on the herds requirement for energy and protein on top of available grass. 
• Yield should determine the volume of meal being fed once grass intake has been accurately established. Milk urea should help decide what protein percentage is appropriate.

Sucklers

• Autumn calving will begin in the next few weeks. This will ensure that newborn calves get sufficient colostrum within the first six hours of life.
• Restrict energy intake while keeping dry matter intakes up to keep dry cows’ condition under control. Continue to keep dry cow minerals in front of cows.
• Many are creep-feeding spring calves. Make sure that the concentrate being fed contains good-quality ingredients to encourage intake.

Growing weanlings & Store cattle

• Young calves/weanlings on grass may not thriving well unless they are being fed meal or are getting a fresh pick of grass regularly.
• These cattle are often seen grazing poor quality, strong and headed out grass which is of absolutely no use to them.
• Late-born bucket-reared calves should also continue to be supplemented at this stage in order to maintain growth rates before housing.

Finishers

• Cattle to be finished off grass should be fed some meal to achieve a good cover at this stage of the year. Low-protein, high-energy meals are sufficient for this purpose.
• Young bulls on ad-lib feeding indoors are close to finishing now, and if the aim is to kill them under 20 months. These must be kept on a high-energy diet to achieve an acceptable fat cover. The addition of oats, barley and or maize meal will help to achieve this.

Compiled by Brian Reidy, an independent ruminant nutritionist at Premier Farm Nutrition.