Grass Addiction Fuels Cow Habit!
Grass Addiction Fuels Cow Habit!
It all starts innocently enough, you come home to the farm and you want to make some changes, make some money, make your mark and before you know it you are addicted to grass which is fuelling your, nearly out of control cow habit!
10 years ago Ian came home to the farm full-time, and in order to do this changes needed to be made so money could be! Ian turned to pedigree Aberdeen Angus cows and to lessons he had learnt from the dairy farmers he had been building parlours for – strip grazing.
He could see the benefits of this system, though it wasn’t still 100% right – the cows were walking over the eaten grass to get to the water trough, it wasn’t getting the rest it needed.
The game changer…
A water bowl, no bigger than a large dog bowl changed the game and turned Ian into an grass growing addict! Whilst on a farm open day in Cornwall Ian saw the KiwkiTech water trough, enough for 50 cows, moveable around the paddocks and fed off the main trough. That £45 was a great investment and meant a back fence could be introduced and rotational grazing could commence.
A lot can happen 24 hours….
and grass can do a lot of growing… seeing that first paddock starting to green up after 24 hours was a magical moment, and one he is still in awe of today… THAT was a game changer! By overcoming his infrastructure issues and ensuring cows had access to water meant Ian was truly in the grass growing game!
The ultimate Swiss Army knife…
Electric fencing is like a Swiss army knife – there are so many ways to use it! Permanent around all the fields, feed off it with temporary, single strand, double strand, its quick to put up, it’s neat and tidy, keeps the stock in and the hedges in good condition. Having the PEL820 mains fed, permanent electric fence saves so much time when preparing the forward grazing cells and having the Speedrite remote means he can turn the fence on and off from anywhere on the farm.
Strategic decisions..
Ian says yes to a lot of opportunities to get the Mobberley Angus name out there, taking part in news, magazine articles and now working with AHBD and Datamars. Datamars are strategic partners and have loaned Ian their TruTest XR5000 Indicator for accurate weight capture, this links with the XRS2 stick reader. Within 24 hours of receiving these Ian had ordered readable EID tags which has made the job super easy and quick – game changer!
Calves are tagged at birth, with Caisley tags, BVD and DNA tested and EID tagged. Information is gathered on this first day, from weight, time of birth and tag number, all recorded on the stick reader and transferred to the FarmPlan software, which is added to through their lifetime, tracability at its finest!
The XR5000 has been a game changer! It collects and delivers as much or as little information as you want, you set the data you want to see for the decisions you want to me.
Accurate data, accurate decisions…
MiHub has helped Ian make great decisions and save money. Ian aims to finish a 350kg cow , he can set his weight goal month to kill between 16-22 months, weighing cattle every 3 weeks, MiHub can tell him if he is on target and how much Daily Liveweight Gain he needs to achieve – which was 0.8kg per day, not the standard 1kg we read about, saving him money on feed costs whilst still hitting his targets! By having all the information right in front of you with proper facts and figures means that you know where your business is really at, where you can save money and where you can make money.
No more Top Gun moments.
Trying to read a tag number as the cow is moving its head around.. always made me feel like Goose in Top Gun trying to get my aim on a ‘boogey’! Add some muck and a hairy ear and mistakes are made, especially when there are sheets of paper, full of ear tag numbers on TB testing day. The Stick Reader and EID tags have made life so easy and safe. As long as the stick bearer hears the ‘Beep’ as the tag is read, easy days… This is so important for Ian, who relies on outside help on TB testing day, when he feels he should be in the danger zone of pushing cattle into the race, it means father in law can help… as long as it beeps!
The same with the medicine book; no longer scraps of paper, lost in a draw trying to remember quantities and withdrawal dates, it is all there, ‘Beep’ then straight into the FarmPlan software.
Learn together, learn from each other and work together…
Ian wants to do the best job he can and the way to do this is to learn from others, from farm open days, AHDB days and discussion groups. Not afraid to travel the distance in order to learn from those that have done it, who have made mistakes and learnt from them! Ian joined the Precision Grazing discussion group, a group of like-minded people with a positive attitude who want to give things a try. But he wants to up his game and so investing into 1:2:1 time with Precision Grazing will be his next move to get the most of the land he has for optimum cattle growing conditions and maybe enough sneak a few more head of Angus in!
Start at the end…
And work backwards. Ian has set the income he wants to achieve and worked backwards from there. Breeding a smaller cow, 650kg, that can grow itself and raise a calf on grass, a smaller cow that does less damage to soil and grazing, a calf that can be finished off grass at 350kg, to suit the system, and consumer desire for smaller cuts of meat, to finding a local market for his beef, his brand with full traceability and setting the price, all leads to the end goal and a bigger slice of the wedge. Technology is helping Ian to be the best he can, make the best decisions for his stock and his business. By knowing facts not guesses means he is control.
Say yes to opportunities, learning and technology, say yes to your farm business!
Sian Mercer
Photography, Listener of thoughts, asker of questions, Writer of Blogs
I am Sian Mercer, the writer of these blogs, which are based on thoughts and ideas, quetions I have asked, feelings I have had and wonders which have been answered.
I am a photographer, please check out my website www.myruraltribe.com to see my work and book your own photoshoot, for your rural business or family.
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