Well, the visit as mentioned last time , by Cogent Breeding went very well .
The cows were just looking a million dollars , especially Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious , who , true to form, was just modelling herself off as if being a supermodel.
With any luck this will all lead to her being contracted again for Cogent , in the hope of them getting a bull calf to go on and be tested in the young bull testing scheme.
Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious 2 is also now starting to attract some attention to herself , and once she calves again in October , i think there could be some interest from a couple of companies.
Milk yields in the main herd continue to be steady , although more milk is always welcomed.
We are waiting to here from Keenan Nutrition with regard to tweeking the ration and also from Harbro about a different mineral. Feeding a modern dairy cow is more of a science now , rather than just grass and pellets etc.
The herd finally got their Bluetongue vaccine yesterday , so that is them covered for another year.
Monday will see the foot-trimmer in to spruce up some long-toes in a few of the girls.
Saturday 27 June 2009
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Ground Still Dry
Well , over the last 7 days we have seen some rain , but really it is still nowhere near enough and i have been disappointed in the grass growth . However , i think we will be fine for grass all the same .
Milk yields have increased slightly and the cows appear to be happy. Mastitis levels continue to be at their lowest ever and milk quality is still higH.
We are now starting to think about 2nd cut silage , but are delaying it till next week to see if we can get that last little bit of growth.
Yesterday we all had to sit our refresher course in forklift truck driving .
I can see the point of all the training and testing , and if it cuts accidents and saves a life or two , then all to the good .
Still ,very frustrating when you are put on the spot and asked to actually think about what you do evry day , usually WITHOUT THINKING..
We will be bluetongue vaccinating the cows this week . This will be their booster as they were all done for the first time last year. This is a sensible approach to the problem of bluetongue and one which i wish MORE farmers would adopt.
Milk yields have increased slightly and the cows appear to be happy. Mastitis levels continue to be at their lowest ever and milk quality is still higH.
We are now starting to think about 2nd cut silage , but are delaying it till next week to see if we can get that last little bit of growth.
Yesterday we all had to sit our refresher course in forklift truck driving .
I can see the point of all the training and testing , and if it cuts accidents and saves a life or two , then all to the good .
Still ,very frustrating when you are put on the spot and asked to actually think about what you do evry day , usually WITHOUT THINKING..
We will be bluetongue vaccinating the cows this week . This will be their booster as they were all done for the first time last year. This is a sensible approach to the problem of bluetongue and one which i wish MORE farmers would adopt.
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Rain At Last
Well last night it rained , we had 10mm, which is still way short of what we need.
Grass growth has been minimal and the buffer ration seems to be getting increased on a daily basis.
The last thing we want to do is run out of grass totally.
The cows are managing to maintain production , but until they are on better grazing , i can't quite see an increase happening too soon.
Cogent Breeding Ltd are popping in to see me (or more importantly, the cows) on Friday , so I will begin to clip the Gracious cows later on in the week.
All youngstock are now out at grass , and enjoying their "freedom".
Nothing nicer than to see calves and young heifers running amock in the fields.
The DFB troubles are still mounting up , with most of their ex-producers now on a "contract" with the recievers , which is just paying 10ppl.
I heard from an Arla rep today that he turned down 32 producers last week , most DFB producers are also smaller than many Arla producers , this creating another headache, with Arla looking for producers to supply in excess of 1,000 000 litres.
This may prove just too difficult for some and sadly they may end up leaving the industry.
Going to Carlisle tomorrow for a day out and to see the June Border and Lakeland sale of cows, heifers in milk and embryo's.
Grass growth has been minimal and the buffer ration seems to be getting increased on a daily basis.
The last thing we want to do is run out of grass totally.
The cows are managing to maintain production , but until they are on better grazing , i can't quite see an increase happening too soon.
Cogent Breeding Ltd are popping in to see me (or more importantly, the cows) on Friday , so I will begin to clip the Gracious cows later on in the week.
All youngstock are now out at grass , and enjoying their "freedom".
Nothing nicer than to see calves and young heifers running amock in the fields.
The DFB troubles are still mounting up , with most of their ex-producers now on a "contract" with the recievers , which is just paying 10ppl.
I heard from an Arla rep today that he turned down 32 producers last week , most DFB producers are also smaller than many Arla producers , this creating another headache, with Arla looking for producers to supply in excess of 1,000 000 litres.
This may prove just too difficult for some and sadly they may end up leaving the industry.
Going to Carlisle tomorrow for a day out and to see the June Border and Lakeland sale of cows, heifers in milk and embryo's.
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