Grazing management
MANAGING HEIFER REPLACEMENTS AT GRASS
Effective grassland management should form an integral part of any heifer rearing system. Improvements in grassland management will result in reductions in concentrate inputs and rearing costs. Nevertheless maintaining animal performance while managing calves at grass can pose serious challenges to a heifer rearing programme in terms of:
- Turn out date
- Minimising the stress often encountered immediately following turnout
- Maximising grass intakes by maintaining grass quality throughout the grazing season
- Effectively controlling parasites and flies
Set backs at this stage, particularly for spring born calves, can cause delays in reaching target weights and result in animals calving down at over two years of age, thus adding to total rearing costs. It is therefore vital that due consideration is given to setting up an appropriate grazing system for heifer replacements.
Popular grazing systems for youngstock include:
- Leader-Follower grazing
- Set stocking animals in early spring before moving them to silage aftermaths
Heifers in a Leader-Follower system
A Leader-Follower grazing system is used at Greenmount Campus to manage heifers at grass. The management strategies adopted are a reflection of when the calves are born (autumn or spring)
Autumn born calves
Autumn born calves are usually turned out to grass in mid - late April (average weight around 200 KG). They graze as part of a Leader-Follower system where the calves form the leader group and in-calf heifers make up the follower group. Calves in the leader group receive 0.5 KG per calf per day of a 24 percent CP rearing compound. Parasites are controlled using a bolus programme. Calves will continue to graze until early - mid October.
