John Joyce: Why I’m not too disappointed that 20 percent of my cows were scanned blank

The most important information is to find the void animals and the odd twins so that these animals can be separated and fed accordingly.

We had the spring calving cows scanned in October and the results were very good – only two non-pregnant cows.

As feared, the autumn season was more mixed: these cows came under pressure last summer due to the drought in the calf rearing. The grass supply on the farm was short when the bull was introduced to them.

No twins appeared and the empty rate was 20 pieces. That sounds high, but the bull was only with them for eight weeks because I wanted to narrow the calving spread.

I find that when autumn cows calve too late in the year, the calves are young when they come into the barn with their mothers and need to be monitored more closely after housing.

There were other reasons why I wasn’t too disappointed with the void rate.​

Cow prices for beef or feed are very good and are expected to get even better. I’ve penned up the empty cows and will feed them and have them ready for meat in late May or early June.

In years past, this was when cow prices peaked, probably because numbers are low at this time and demand for beef is high at the start of summer.

I was concerned that some of the void animals were second calves. Some of them are well behaved cows and I guess they didn’t get enough condition in the summer because of the drought.

Dairy farmers tell me that second calves often lose ground when they calve again.

Many farmers focus on the heifers, bringing them to the appropriate weight for their age to be suitable for breeding. Perhaps these animals need a bit of grooming to keep them in the herd for a few more years.

While I have to say goodbye to those second calving cows this time, there is one cow that I am very fond of and may recycle into the spring herd for next year. Not all farmers will agree to this move.
On another point, it is good to see that the Minister has taken the proposed suckler cow phase-out program off the table.

I felt that a phase out or culling program could distort the market in the short term and have a long term impact on the quality of cattle produced for different markets.

Some may not agree with me, but at least the decision means farmers can now make plans as to where they will go going forward, with another year of high production costs.

These plans could include exiting the sector given the high prices for culled cows, or evaluating the number of cows they want to keep and entering the new suckler cow program in the coming months.

That’s what I do. If you look at the T&Cs, there are a few more requirements than the old BGDP.

But if you’re serious about breast milking, all of these requirements shouldn’t pose a problem. In a way it will be a good benchmark to aim for

John Joyce farms at Carrigahorig, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary