Paula Hynes: Starting to Elevate the herd
Some of the heifers on the Hynes farm that were DNA sampled this week for the Elevate program
The farm went through dramatic changes when my husband Pete started farming; the calving pattern was tightened, AI was introduced and cows started doing more days at grass. I think we can all agree that large volumes of grass were a lot easier to grow ten years ago, but climate change and weather patterns have impacted that grass growth over the last few years.
The breeding season trundled along for 12 weeks a year for the last decade, and we then introduced some autumn-calvers two years ago as the girl's interest in showing grew. We took the decision 12 months ago to reduce the size of the spring calving herd, and the decision seemed to stand us well as the spring of 2024 was one of the worst we have seen from a weather perspective, and grass growth over the summer was hampered by weather again.
