Brian Reidy: Getting your beef herd set up for breeding season

For many, the winter has not yet finished, as stock have been rehoused or haven’t seen grass yet. But the show must go on, and for most suckler and dairy farmers, the spring breeding season has or is soon going to start.

Don't expect young bulls to cover too many cows. And where you are using A.I., make sure to take time to pick out bulls suitable for your cows and heifers well in advance of insemination.

After an excellent February, it seems March forgot to stop raining and now in April, we are still waiting for it to settle.

Spring crop planting is now getting late and many have struggled to get fertiliser on silage ground. Unfortunately, it is already very likely that we will be dealing with lower volumes of poorer quality forages next winter. For both dairy and beef producers, my advice is to cut your silage early and often this year.