Farming
Scanning is vital aid in the successful management of our suckler cow herds
BY ANTHONY O’CONNOR
TO scan or not to scan? That is the question facing many suckler farmers at present. In recent years, the number of suckler cows being pregnancy scanned has fallen sharply as farmers strive to save cash and cut costs. However, the benefits of pregnancy scanning far exceed the costs involved.
If it is at least 35 days since the last cow in the herd could have been served then you should consider scanning the cows. It offers so many advantages that it is a vital tool used on well managed herds.
• It will tell you what is and what is not in calf. This will allow you the opportunity to take out empty cows, wean their calves that bit earlier and have these barren cows finished with some supplementation off grass. Finishing these barren cows (along with other cull cows) will save you fodder, money, time and shed space.
• Most scanners will be able to give you a good estimate of the number of weeks that each cow has gone in calf. We can use this information to predict the cows due date which will influence how she is fed, when she is to be vaccinated, (if you give a scour vaccine). It will also allow you to predict the peak calving period so that extra help can be planned or when you may need to take time off work.
• In the run up to calving, pregnant cows can be drawn out and penned according to their predicted calving date. At calving time, these cows can be moved into pens or loose housing closest to the calving boxes/area. Scanning allows you to identify late calvers, batch them together and feed accordingly. These predicted late calvers could be selected for culling next year when their calves have been weaned. There is also the option of culling these predicted late calvers now and selling them at the mart.
Other advantages: Provided cows haven’t gone over 12 to 14 weeks in calf you may well be able to pick up if there are any cows carrying twins which will alert you to watch the condition of these cows in the run up to calving. It will also have you primed for what to expect at calving.
It will sometimes show up cows that may be carrying an unviable embryo that for one reason or another is unlikely to go full term.
If the scanning reveals for example that more than 5% of your cows are empty then this may signify that there is a fertility problem in your herd. Maybe it was a bull issue or perhaps a mineral deficiency or a disease problem – either way, it should prompt you into investigating the issue further.
The cost of scanning is approximately €5 per cow. However, the cost per cow is generally less for larger herds (20 or more cows) and where cows are all scanned together in the one location. A suggestion is that some farmers in the same locality (or in a discussion group) get together and arrange to have their herds scanned on the same day, thus reducing costs.
In summary, pregnancy scanning will tell you what is and what is not in calf, allowing you to cull barren cows. It provides information on what to expect and when to expect it, thus helping in the organisation of calving and labour requirements. It is a vital management tool for suckler herds.
*Anthony O’Connor is a drystock adviser with Teagasc, Athenry. Comments to anthony.oconnor@teagasc.ie
GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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MINISTER for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, has been asked to review a decision taken over recent weeks to exclude the sheep farming sector from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR).
East Galway Independent TD, Seán Canney, has called on the Agriculture Minister and Government to ‘revisit’ the issue of sheep farmers and the BAR fund.
Galway IFA Chair, Stephen Canavan, also said that a mistake had been made in terms of excluding the sheep sector from the BAR funding.
“I think that there is no doubt whatsoever that Brexit had a major impact in terms of New Zealand lamb exports flooding the UK market.
“The knock-on affect of that on Irish sheep farmers was a serious fall-back on lamb and hogget prices through the early months of this year.
“There are now serious concerns that the farmers who buy in store lambs through the early autumn period will just pull out of this market after getting such a scalding over the past six months or so,” said Stephen Canavan.
According to Deputy Seán Canney, all of the Regional Group of TDs are backing the move to get the Government to have another look at the use of the BAR fund for the sheep sector.
“The evidence that sheep farming was affected by Brexit is strong and the decision not to support people in this sector needs to be reversed immediately.
“Brexit negotiations began in June 2016 and caused turmoil in the sheep trade as it weakened the currency making UK lamb far more competitive.
“The notion or threat of ‘a no deal ‘ in Brexit caused the price of sheep to fluctuate repeatedly in the trade and resulted in lambs selling for an estimated €30-€50 lower per head each year during the entire Brexit process,” said Deputy Canney.
WITH the exception of Leitrim, Galway was marginally the cheapest county in the west and north-west to buy non-residential farmland during the course of 2022, according to the latest national survey of prices.
The survey showed that the average price of an acre of ‘good land’ in Galway last year, for holdings under 50-acres, was €9,500 – the dearest was Donegal at €12,143 while the cheapest was Leitrim at €6,140 an acre.
Jointly researched by Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCCI) and Teagasc, the survey also indicated that only 0.5% of land in Ireland goes up for sale each year, a major factor in terms of demand for leased land.
‘Good land’ in Mayo [under 50-acres] averaged out at €10,092; the figure for Roscommon was €9,938; with Sligo coming in at €9,550.
When it came to a comparison of poorer quality land in Connacht [under 50-acres], Mayo was the cheapest at €2,886 followed by Leitrim on €3,300 while Galway topped ‘poor land price league’ at €5,375 per acre.
Auctioneer Martin O’Connor of DNG O’Connor, Oughterard, said that the market was being driven by dairy farmers ‘who are continually ranked throughout the survey as the most likely purchasers of land across the country’.
He said that changes in the European Nitrates Directive in relation to improving water quality meant that many dairy farmers needed more land to comply with this directive.
“In order to maintain current levels of milk production – and to comply with the directive – many dairy farms will need to either increase their land area or reduce milk production.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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