FINAL TOUCHES

All the ground that has been closed up got approximately 3.5 cwt/acre of Cut Sward.

Because the weather has been so hot, we have very little slurry spread so far. So that is a job we will have to do as soon as the second-cut is in the pit.

The grazed ground that we have let up concerns me a little at the moment. Because of the very dry weather, these fields seem to be heading out very quickly. I am afraid that, if I leave them, they will deteriorate into very poor, stemmy, silage. So we will have to make up our mind in the next week or so whether we cut them straight away, salvage what we can off them, and start again.

In a couple of fields that were paddocked a few years ago, we have realigned the fences in them to make some smaller paddocks, with a view to keeping fresh grass in front of the weanling bulls and hopefully kick-on their performance.

The original paddocks were almost 3ha in size, the new ones are just under 2ha. I await with interest to see if it will make much difference; I think it will.

Although I suppose when we go to cut silage next year, the contractor won’t be too happy when he sees a good squared field divided up!

The last of our heifers that were born in autumn 2016 were slaughtered this past week. We have ended up with a carcase weight of 350kg on average.

We were fairly satisfied with their performance and the price held up well. Though we’d like to think there is room for improvement on both fronts.

We need to go through all the cows and in-calf heifers in the next couple of weeks to sort them into two groups, those due to calve before the end of August, and those due in September/October.

The earlier group will also get their shot of Rotavac at that stage. It is important to vaccinate them at least a month out from calving.

The winter barley has got its final spray so the next machine into the field will be the combine.

The crop is looking very well and hopefully this will be a year of good yields and a good price.

The spring barley is still due another spray and it looks to be a crop that is struggling. But, fingers crossed, I hope I am wrong on that one.

Robin Talbot farms in partnership with his mother Pam and wife Ann in Ballacolla, Co Laois.