SHARING OPTIONS:
The Duguid family moved their calving from the start of March to the start of April.
In the final instalment of lessons learned within the Farm Profit Programme, we look at matching calving dates to grass growth.
In the northeast of Scotland, the programme demonstrated that the best time for suckler cows to calve was March and April, ensuring cows were rolling out to grass just as growth rates were on the rise.
The first few weeks of lactation in suckler cows is crucial to maximise milk yield. By calving cows in sync with increasing grass growth, it means the energy demand of lactating cows matches the energy supplied by grazed grass in mid- to late spring.
Sale topper Kilduff Rockstar sold for €11,200.
It was a a day of dreams for one Cavan family as the Irish Charolais cattle society hosted the last of its spring 2021 sales in Tullamore over the weekend.
The Dunne family of Robert, James and Zara exhibited three bulls from their Kilduff herd making an impressive average price of just shy of €7,500.
These prices were led by a call of €11,200 for the sale topping Kilduff Rockstar. This powerful 13-month-old bull had been ticked off in a number of buyers catalogues, and after heated bidding was eventually knocked down to Claire Ferris and Peter McCague from Co Down. Sired by the famous Doonally New, Rockstar is out of a Pirate dam that goes back to Kilduff Tazmin. Carrying five stars on all the terminal traits, the powerful young bull carried one copy each of the Q204X and F94L genes.