Plenty advice at Teagasc seminar
ANNUAL TEAGASC BEEF SEMINAR TAKES PLACE AT BOHERBUE HALL
THE Teagasc Kanturk Annual Beef Seminar was held in Boherbue Hall recently, under the theme ‘Challenging Your Beef Production Skills For 2020’.
The speakers included Enda Maloney, drystock adviser; Chris Daly, ICBF; Aisling Molloy, drystock adviser; and Charles Chavasse, Zoetis.
Noreen O’Rahilly, Education Officer Teagasc Kanturk, chaired the seminar, which was well received.
Enda Maloney spoke about the new calf investment scheme, which was open until Tuesday, January 28.
A grant of 40 per cent was available for farmers to purchase calf-rearing equipment such as a calf teat feeder, milk cart, milk heater, and so on.
A minimum investment of €1,000 was required up to a maximum investment of €7,500, and claims must be submitted before June 30, 2020.
He also informed farmers about ‘ The Beef Edge’ – a new Teagasc fortnightly podcast that covers beef news, timely management advice and tips for farmers.
It is available as an app to farmers who have an iPhone, Android phone or Spotify account.
Chris Daly from ICBF informed farmers of the new calving difficulty figures for AI bulls that are available.
They are split into a calving difficulty for beef heifers and cows and dairy heifers and cows to help farmers make more informed breeding decisions.
He also highlighted the new Dairy Beef Index, which is an index to help dairy farmers select beef bulls to help improve the quality of the beef calves from their herds.
Chris also delivered the good news of the Department of Agriculture paid weighing scheme for dairy calves and for suckler cows and calves, similar to the BEEP scheme in 2019.
Further details for these have yet to be announced.
He reminded farmers of the upcoming deadlines for the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) whereby participating farmers must have 50 per cent of their reference number of females genotyped as four or five stars on the replacement index on October 31, and they must also be at least 15 months of age.
Farmers must continue to have at least 80 per cent of any AI progeny sired by four- or five-star AI bulls as well.
Aisling Molloy highlighted the environmental challenges that are facing farmers and how these can be turned into opportunities.
Protected urea, which is urea fertiliser with a protective coating, can be used as a replacement for CAN fertiliser.
It is a cheaper substitute, has a similar grass yield, will have less nitrogen loss and is better for the environment as there are less greenhouse gas emissions.
She emphasised, as with all fertilisers, it is important to have other aspects of soil fertility correct such as soil pH, phosphorus index and potassium index.
A dribble bar or trailing shoe ought to be used for spreading slurry, instead of using a splash-plate.
They result in less ammonia emissions, there are extra three units of nitrogen retained per 1,000 gallons of slurry spread, and they have less grass contamination versus the splash plate so that slurry can be spread in heavier covers of grass.
However, where using a dribble bar, trailing shoe or injection system to spread slurry, it is important to account for the extra nitrogen saved and to reduce chemical fertiliser accordingly.
Zoetis veterinarian Charles Chavasse outlined the calf rearing essentials that are crucial for the first 60 days for a calf ’s life.
These include:
Well being – that the calf receives sufficient colostrum at birth and is fed correctly thereafter (ie three litres of milk, twice a day for a dairy calf ).
Housing/shed design – there must be fresh air circulating, with no draughts and the facilities are kept as clean, dry and hygienic as possible.
Pathogens/viruses – that dairy calves are housed away from older animals to reduce disease risk and all calves can be vaccinated for RSV and Pi3 pneumonia from nine days of age to help reduce the need for antibiotics if an outbreak occurs.