- NEWS
10% tax on junk food to tackle obesityA 10% tax on fizzy drinks, sweets, biscuits, crisps, and chocolate is to be recommended to the health minister as a way of tackling the country's soaring obesity problem.
Prayer vigil for fine weather as farmers queue for fodderA 24-hour prayer vigil for fine weather has been held on the Kerry-Cork border.
- WORLD
It’s technology, Jim, but not as we know it WHEN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first dreamed up the concept of a television show based in the unexplored universe of Outer Space in 1964, the world was a very different place.
Berlusconi’s party girls dressed as nuns, Obama Silvio Berlusconi's private disco featured women dressed not just as sexy nuns and nurses, but also as President Barack Obama and a prominent Milan prosecutor that the former Italian premier has accused of persecuting him.
- BUSINESS
IBRC delays loan valuations, saleThe valuation and sale of IBRC loans has been pushed out by six months to November and December of this year.
The smart money is always on SeánFounded four decades ago, its annual turnover is now €2bn.
- SPORT
The Terry Reilly Interview: The Godfather of GalwayOver the course of almost half a century, Liam Sammon has been in service to Galway football. Now he hopes a new generation can restore county pride.
Super Blues keep double in sightsJoe Schmidt's side won their third European trophy in successive years and gave Connacht reason to celebrate also as the Westerners gained entry to next season's Heineken Cup courtesy of their neighbours to the east.
- LIFESTYLE
Let in the seasonal lightYOUR wardrobe isn't the only thing that needs updating once the barometer starts to rise.
It’s a guy thingDid you cry with your buddy while watching Fergie say farewell at Old Trafford?
10-13C
Breaking stories
Give late heifer calves special attention
Late calves must get special attention if they are to calve down at 22 months early in the season at the proper weight.
Almost half our dairy heifers don’t calve under the age of 30 months, and this is a serious loss to dairy farmers. Make sure your calves thrive from birth to calving.Raising milk yields per cow can have a big effect in reducing replacement costs. A 20% replacement rate for a 75,000 gallons quota in a 1,000 gallon herd is 15 heifers. A 20% replacement rate for the same size quota in a 1,400-gallon herd is 11 heifers.
Proponents of low yields per cow justify their arguments by having good output per hectare, but it does not pay to be carrying 25% more cows than is necessary to fill the quota efficiently. Every surplus cow costs money.
Many farmers are keeping far too many cows for available quota, in preparation for the end of milk quotas, and this is costing them dearly in terms of short lactations, low yields, infertility and the maintenance of surplus stock.
Remember, it is a long time to be carrying surplus stock until the spring of 2016.