County Tyrone beef farmer achieves nine-week calving pattern year after year
Declan Rafferty runs the herd of 100 Simmental-cross, Limousin-cross, Stabiliser and Aberdeen Angus cows at Pomeroy, County Tyrone, on the 63 hectares he farms with brother-in-law, Aidan Quinn.
Good fertility is an important factor in achieving productivity in Declan Rafferty’s suckler beef system. By ensuring that the herd’s trace element needs are met, Declan achieves a nine-week calving pattern year after year. 70% of the herd calves in the spring and the remainder in an autumn block; the target service period is May 15th to August 1st.
Grazed grass is central to the system; thirty acres is split into 16 paddocks and grazed rotationally, but the farmland has high levels of molybdenum, a chemical element which locks up copper, so additional sources of copper are required to improve fertility cycles.
Two years ago, Declan realised the value of the boluses to his system when he turned youngstock out to grass without bolusing. “They didn’t thrive. We got advice from different sources and decided to bolus and that turned the cattle around.”
At turnout pre-breeding, cows and bulling heifers are bolused with Tracesure Cu/I Cattle, a slow release trace element bolus that provides iodine, selenium, copper and cobalt for up to six months. “I had 54 cows calve in 20 days this year, that’s over 70% of cows calved in the first 20 days. With mineral levels as high as they can be, there are no problems,” he reports.
Heifers are also given Copasure to provide a sustained-release source of copper for absorption from the gut. This steady supplementation ensures adequate copper status but avoids the sharp rises in copper levels which can be associated with copper toxicity.
Declan synchronises heifers and achieved a 70% conception rate to first service in 2017. He describes fertility as crucially important to his business. “Any cows that don’t get in calf in the first nine weeks have to be replaced because I want a nice compact calving and a low replacement rate,” he says. “It is crucially important from a labour and management point of view, to be able to carry out application and other jobs at the same time, and also to have uniform batches of cattle to sell.”
Finishing cattle are also bolused at turnout. “We are averaging 2kg of dairy live weight gain – 2.3kg in the Aberdeen Anguses, 2kg in the Stabilisers and 1.9kg in the Limousin-crosses and Simmental-crosses,” says Declan. “The stock is in good condition. Happy cows make a happy farmer!” says Declan.
Although his fertility results are sufficient proof to Declan that his herd has the correct levels of trace elements, blood samples have confirmed this. His farm was involved in the Northern Ireland Suckler Beef Programme, a joint initiative between the Irish Farmers Journal, CAFRE and ABP. “As part of that programme we were asked to blood sample. The samples from our herd had the best levels of copper and iodine in the group.”
Declan is pleased with the performance of the boluses – and says other farmers he knows are recognising the value of his bolus system. “We are getting far more rainfall and that is resulting in minerals leaching out of the soil so there is less availability for livestock. Yes there is a cost to bolusing but it is working for us, so we won’t stop.” he says.
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About Animax
● Animax, founded in 1982, is a pioneering British company which specialises in the research, development and manufacture of highly effective animal health products. Animax is the market leader in trace element supplementation for livestock.
● Based in Suffolk in the UK, Animax is best known for their range of leaching boluses which deliver a prolonged and regulated release of the key trace elements. Copper, cobalt, iodine and selenium are the four trace elements which are essential for supplementation in low trace element diets in livestock. The boluses leach known and optimum levels of these elements for up to 6 months.
● Animax’s trace element leaching boluses are sold in the Republic of Ireland under the Allsure® brand, and globally under the Tracesure® brand. They also produce other leading brands such as Copasure®, Copinox®, Easycal® and Pardevit®. All Animax nutritional and medicinal products are developed and manufactured on site and sold in 16 countries.
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