Dairy
Many farmers have got out of winter milk/liquid milk production in the last number of years due to higher input costs and shortage...
With second cut silage secured on a lot of dairy farms, some farmers won't be opting for another cut of silage, but all farmers need to make..
As part of the ZeroNsile project AgriSearch recently held a farm walk on red clover establishment on the farm of Francis McDonnell...
Showers here and there over the weekend may have halted mowers for parts of the country, but the opportunity for silage being cut...
Dairy Technical
The impact of cutting dates on silage quality is something to be considered as the weather for the last couple of days has been excellent...
For most farms, fertiliser is in the ground on their silage blocks and for autumn calving herds and those that are winter milking,..
Displaced abomasum (DA) can have serious consequences for farms in regards to treatment, premature culling, and production loss.
It is easy to get carried away feeding concentrates for your winter milk herd, however the diet should be adjusted based on the quality of...
The difficult weather conditions for silage making means that identifying and mitigating mycotoxin...
Many farmers have started to dry off their first calvers and their thin cows and maybe farmers should body condition score (BCS) the rest...
We are now into the thick of autumn calving for the winter milk herds and as we get further into the year, it is vital that the freshly...
As we get further into the lactation, closer to drying-off and closer to the housing period, body condition scoring (BCS) your cows should...
Although there are still many cows in the shed, and grazing has not fully taken off yet, it's now...
Harvesting high quality silage is vital for farms that will be milking cows in the shed next winter and now is the time to place...
Beef
The opening six to eight weeks of the year and mid-summer tend to be two times of the year when young bull kills are highest as...
N.Ireland
There is now a growing concern that silage stocks are starting to run low on many dairy and livestock farms across Northern Ireland.
The winter routine is full swing on dairy farms, with silage pits now opened and cows housed until next spring.
Silage slippage is a major challenge on many dairy and beef farms throughout Northern Ireland at the present time.
Most dairy farmers in Northern Ireland will have sufficient silage stocks built up by this stage to get them through the coming winter
Knowing the quality of the silage on your farm is vital to ensure that maximum herd performance is achieved through forage.
Beef Technical
The importance of harvesting high-quality silage for dairy calf-to-beef systems was highlighted at the farm walk on Pat Collins' farm recently.
Silage bales have a role to play on almost every Irish livestock farm, with silage contributing between 25% and 40% of dairy and beef animals diets.
There is often an aim to cut silage crops early and harvest as high a quality silage as possible, but why is this such as important target.
