The spring 2024 calf-rearing season is now in full swing on the ABP Demo Farm, with 350 calves bought in as of Thursday, March 28.
The remaining 50 calves are expected to arrive in the coming weeks. While later-born calves suit some farm systems, the ABP Demo Farm does not buy any April-born calves as they do not suit its system.
All breeds and sires that the farm plans on purchasing are represented in the calves bought-in as of now, and the remaining calves to be bought will add to the sample population of the different calf breeds and sires.
ABP Advantage Beef Programme farm liaison officer, Sean Maher explained that the calf arrival weight has been steady at 58kg, with the heaviest being a Hereford calf at 89kg and the lightest an Angus at 41kg.
“Grading these calves into their pens is essential, as it allows each calf its best chance at performing.
“Heavier calves will also need less milk in a few weeks’ time as hopefully their starter intake will be increasing in line with their bodyweight,” he said.
The first calves arrived on February 19 and these are beginning to be stepped back on their milk-feeding programme.
Concentrate intakes are beginning to increase and these calves will have to be eating 2-3kg of meal before they are weaned off milk.
Sean said that the weather conditions “have made calf rearing tricky so far this year”.
“We have seen regular temperature swings of 10 degrees in two days, one after the other. Trying to provide a consistent climate for calves has been very near impossible.
“We’ve used calf jackets on colder days along with canopies. On warmer days, doors and shed windows have been opened up. This brings challenges with draughts however all we can do is stay fighting,” he added.
Cattle at grass
240 cattle have gone to grass on the ABP Demo Farm with another 80 to go out in the next few days.
“These cattle averaged 340kg at turnout which is a very good weight considering they were behind target coming into the shed. They’ve thrived well in the last six weeks of housing considering meal and beet has been pulled from the diet, averaging 0.88kg ADG.
“The highlight so far has been an Angus bullock born February 12, 2023 weighing 466kg. He is sired by AA7821 and has done 1.08kg lifetime ADG,” he explained.
“Cattle will graze in bundles of 40s and 50s for the year. This number can make grazing difficult due to the amount of groups however, it makes herding and handling much easier.
Sean said that dropping numbers in each group is tempting, but it can cause issues.
“Silage ground is grazed first and it’s looking likely that it won’t all be grazed,” he said.
“We plan on applying fertiliser as soon as ground and weather conditions permit. Current farm cover is 910kg DM/ha and all the farm received 23 units of urea/ac in early March, except for the multi-species platform which will be treated differently.
“The multi-species platform has not been fenced yet due to the weather conditions so we’ve began grazing it using temporary strip wires.
“Grass growth has been good over the winter on both swards and the focus is grazing it out doing as little harm as possible.”
Store lambs on the ABP Demo Farm
2024 has seen a bumper trade for lambs (hoggets) with the demo farm taking advantage of it.
Sean explained that 470 lambs have been processed so far with a live weight of 51kg, averaging just over 22kg carcass weight.
These have been getting 1kg/head/day of concentrates and had access to silage while out at grass. The last 130 or so will be sent for processing in the coming weeks.
“Over the last few days, we’ve seen the arrival of newborn lambs on other sheep farms as part of the ICM, Sheep Ireland and ABP project.
“This project focuses on five star rams and their progeny. Some of these lambs will be coming to the demo farm next August whilst others will be finished on the farms they were born on.”