Recent content by harperfarmer

I've just cashed one now for the same reason. Only a 3rd calver had to shoot her calf with tetanus. Not her fault in the slightest, good mother and milked well just one of those. But business sense prevailed and to quote little Britain " well she's dead now....which is some comfort.." 😅

I just reckon that cows hang onto them in a cold time and wait for better weather to have them. During the beast from the east we didn't anything calve for over 10days......the moment the storm broke and the temperatures went up we had 8 calve in 12hrs and had to pull them all as they'd gone...

We've had 2 c-sections this year and should have had another 2 that I elected to pull and lost/killed the calf in the process. Dams were okay but could have been a lot worse. On both occasions that I made the wrong call I was severely sleep deprived and on one occasion (14 month heifer...

In theory yes. In practise I imagine having had several consecutive c-sections and lacking considerable amounts of sleep there is a greater desire to get rid of the lot rather than add another 100.

We had some little Welsh cross ewes at £121 in Melton yesterday. Bigger texel ewes at £168 and £172. Good meat hoggs 64½kg to £199 then some teeth up hoggs 79½kg at £180. 77kg at £172.

Stil got 100acres oats to go in. Not worried yet as have planted into May and still taken 11t/acre freshweight on a good growing year. Have equally had it where we've taken 5t/acre due to lack of rain. So I'd say its more down to moisture/conditions than date per-say.

This has always been my fear with cross bulls. Could get the best of both or the worst of both.

I hate to knock the previous generation but historically we have always been terrible at utilising grass. Ewes would run on the same ground every year, often up until when housed in Jan for lambing in Feb. They were then turned out onto those same bare fields after lambing with bugger all to eat...

You'll have the grass now but you'll find without N, once grazed off it won't grow back quite as fast therefore won't stand very high stocking rates. That's what I find anyway. We don't put any N on grazing ground or GS4 leys and they look great at turnout but you won't stock as hard throughout...

There would be a lot down here ended up with less than one apiece after schmallenberg

We must just be massively underproducing then as we don't put any N on grassland at all 🤷🏼‍♂️

Yes but that's still every month for 5 months. So 170kg N/ha total. Which is bang on what I'd put on a wheat crop. Just seemed a lot for grassland to me?!

Just seen this thread, are you saying you apply 125kg/ha every month?! So 625kg/ha (250kg/acre) in total through the season?! That's more than I put on wheat?! 🤔 how high are your stocking rates to justify requiring that level of input?!

He was yes 👍🏻

I'm sure the cattle are healthy and well looked after, but I'm not sure I would want to keep cattle like that and look at them everyday in that yard?! Each to their own I guess.