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Have dress up in camouflage and binoculars to look at the suckler cows and calves now who every time they see you think they’re going to get moved. But no where to move them to till grass grows and they’re not exactly starving. If they even hear the jeep they go mad. They’re probably doing the same.
At least they're out. Over half of mine are still on the slats and probably glad that they are because when they look out there's very little grass grown for them to eat.
 
At least they're out. Over half of mine are still on the slats and probably glad that they are because when they look out there's very little grass grown for them to eat.
Would you not sell afew in the mart considering the good prices?
 
At least they're out. Over half of mine are still on the slats and probably glad that they are because when they look out there's very little grass grown for them to eat.
I spoke to a mate of mine in the same boat as you yesterday evening, this lad has a good shot of sucklers and plenty land of reasonable quality. He is very fond of hardship though! He has over half the cows and calves still inside, is complaining about growth rates etc., lack of grass etc, but I said to him then that he has silage that is fit to cut? His answer was, ya, he hopes to cut it the first couple of dry days, as he never grazed it this year before closing and wants top quality fodder for next winter. If he had grazed the silage ground the end of March / first week of April before closing, he would have had plenty grass and the delayed cutting of the silage shouldn't have much of a negative effect for spring calving suckler cows I'd have said.
 
I regret not putting mine back in for a couple of days last week, I threw out ring feeders and a couple of bales to slow things down but they did too much damage on what is dry land with good shelter
 
Would you not sell afew in the mart considering the good prices?

I spoke to a mate of mine in the same boat as you yesterday evening, this lad has a good shot of sucklers and plenty land of reasonable quality. He is very fond of hardship though! He has over half the cows and calves still inside, is complaining about growth rates etc., lack of grass etc, but I said to him then that he has silage that is fit to cut? His answer was, ya, he hopes to cut it the first couple of dry days, as he never grazed it this year before closing and wants top quality fodder for next winter. If he had grazed the silage ground the end of March / first week of April before closing, he would have had plenty grass and the delayed cutting of the silage shouldn't have much of a negative effect for spring calving suckler cows I'd have said.

It's nature I'm afraid, and while life is pretty close to perfect here in Leitrim, we just can't control the weather. We have every cow that calved from 1st march onwards let out as they calved - calves got coats for a week or two to protect from the cold and wet. But anything born before that didn't get the opportunity to get out. It's not the first year for it to happen, but thankfully we are better prepared for it this year than other years with a shed full of hay and loads of bales of silage left over.

We are no different to most other parts of the country this year with regard to temperature and growth. It has meant that regrowth since the 1st of March has been almost non-existent with the exception of the last 5 days where things have started to grow. I was in Fermanagh during the week and speaking to farmers, they are in a worse position to us being that most have no animals out at all.

There are 2 main differences between here and other parts of the country. One is the depth of soil and the other is the amount of rain that we get. We have very shallow soil which means that it is very heavy. On top of that, we are just in the path of a lot of rain - people say that it falls very uneven across the country, but it always seems to fall on us. But we thrive in situations where others suffer such as the dry spell last spring or summer 2018 - we had double the production in these times, so it was wise to make extra feed as we knew that we would need it. This year, spring wasn't exceptionally cold, but the average temperature was low enough to see very little grass growth and combined with the amount of rain that we saw, it meant that it wasn't feasible to let all cattle out. Grass is still scarce enough so we will hold on to them for another week to let it build. Stronger calves are happy and healthy in the creep areas, albeit they are supplemented with a small bit of meal to keep them going, but it will pay for itself.

Following what other lads from different parts of the country have posted here in the last 8 weeks, a lot of people were supplementing cattle that were out with silage or meal. The amount of rain that we have seen since early april has left ground so wet that it would be impossible to do supplementary feeding outdoors without doing a lot of damage.

60 miles away on the farm in Galway is a very different story. Everything is out on grass 4 weeks ago tomorrow. Supplies of grass are holding up well for younger cattle. Cows and calves are tight enough for grass but ground conditions are still quite dry and cows are pretty content.

We could sell some cattle at home, but we have already made cuts this year to meet BEAM targets, so we will trudge on and hope that we can get a few more weeks as good as this one. There will be very little silage made in this county before June 20th and the bulk of it that would normally come before the end of June will not come in until mid July.
 
It's nature I'm afraid, and while life is pretty close to perfect here in Leitrim, we just can't control the weather. We have every cow that calved from 1st march onwards let out as they calved - calves got coats for a week or two to protect from the cold and wet. But anything born before that didn't get the opportunity to get out. It's not the first year for it to happen, but thankfully we are better prepared for it this year than other years with a shed full of hay and loads of bales of silage left over.

We are no different to most other parts of the country this year with regard to temperature and growth. It has meant that regrowth since the 1st of March has been almost non-existent with the exception of the last 5 days where things have started to grow. I was in Fermanagh during the week and speaking to farmers, they are in a worse position to us being that most have no animals out at all.

There are 2 main differences between here and other parts of the country. One is the depth of soil and the other is the amount of rain that we get. We have very shallow soil which means that it is very heavy. On top of that, we are just in the path of a lot of rain - people say that it falls very uneven across the country, but it always seems to fall on us. But we thrive in situations where others suffer such as the dry spell last spring or summer 2018 - we had double the production in these times, so it was wise to make extra feed as we knew that we would need it. This year, spring wasn't exceptionally cold, but the average temperature was low enough to see very little grass growth and combined with the amount of rain that we saw, it meant that it wasn't feasible to let all cattle out. Grass is still scarce enough so we will hold on to them for another week to let it build. Stronger calves are happy and healthy in the creep areas, albeit they are supplemented with a small bit of meal to keep them going, but it will pay for itself.

Following what other lads from different parts of the country have posted here in the last 8 weeks, a lot of people were supplementing cattle that were out with silage or meal. The amount of rain that we have seen since early april has left ground so wet that it would be impossible to do supplementary feeding outdoors without doing a lot of damage.

60 miles away on the farm in Galway is a very different story. Everything is out on grass 4 weeks ago tomorrow. Supplies of grass are holding up well for younger cattle. Cows and calves are tight enough for grass but ground conditions are still quite dry and cows are pretty content.

We could sell some cattle at home, but we have already made cuts this year to meet BEAM targets, so we will trudge on and hope that we can get a few more weeks as good as this one. There will be very little silage made in this county before June 20th and the bulk of it that would normally come before the end of June will not come in until mid July.
Ah you are well used to it as you say and you have ample feed reserves which is always important in areas of high rainfall. My uncle (bachelor) farms on very very heavy land about an hour away from me and still has no cattle out this year but I think unlike you, he just waits until May to let them out every year regardless of ground conditions or grass supply which I can never really understand but he is his own man! For a small country there is huge variation.
 
@nasty were only about 20 mins from muckymanor and would get more rainfall even.its hard for alot of yee to consider that fodder is needed for 9 mths of the year.the milkers here are in a night since end of July.
There is quite a bit of fodder moving the roads at the moment.
Paddocks that I slurryied with the wee tanker back in February was drier than they are today.drying and growth has been nearly non existant so far.
Last year we had the pit in today.its only grazing this year.stocking rates dont really matter.
Whatever about a milker been in, a suckler cow surely isnt turning much
 
We only had an inch of rain in March and it was warm, April was even drier but cold. So far this month we've had 3 inches but only this week stopped having frost at night. Grass fields are still hard enough to drive on but little to no growth.
 
Cattle are doing a bit of damage after last night’s rain and that is dry ground. An animal is definitely grazing with five mouths at the moment.
 

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Quiet content this morning after torrential rain yesterday evening, heats seem to have gone quiet in the last week or so which could be a good or bad thing I suppose depending on how many are bulled already
 

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Quiet content this morning after torrential rain yesterday evening, heats seem to have gone quiet in the last week or so which could be a good or bad thing I suppose depending on how many are bulled already
You calve them good and early so. The bullnia still on his holidays here. Always have trouble with silent heats here too so it can be a lottery
 
You calve them good and early so. The bullnia still on his holidays here. Always have trouble with silent heats here too so it can be a lottery
Can't beat an early calf in my opinion, can get them out to grass the first dry week in spring and they are able for whatever weather comes their way in general, always that bit hardier than late calves we find
 
Can't beat an early calf in my opinion, can get them out to grass the first dry week in spring and they are able for whatever weather comes their way in general, always that bit hardier than late calves we find
Our indoor facilities aren't up to scratch so we try to turn them out as they calve so 1st March and after isn't too bad for us
 
Harry loves this warm weather - it brings all the cows on heat. And when he's not following cows, he's digging. We put the lawn clippings out for him about 2 weeks before he arrives in the paddock so that it is well rotted and he doesn't eat it. He comes along and levels it all for us. Better than having him digging a hole.

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