Scotland Insight 2022 PRINT 15.3.22 - Flipbook - Page 17
up in some fields; also large cattle numbers looking for shade
put pressure on some woodside fences resulting in a couple of
large-scale escapes!”.
“In addition to this, with low grass growth, the cattle often
came running en-masse when they were due to be moved –
this meant that any old or slightly suspect gate posts were
found out due to the pressure of numbers”.
Benefits
While there were challenges, the benefits were obvious to
see, said Mike. “Generally, the cattle grazed fields down well
and, depending on field size, were moved every 2-3 days, thus
allowing good quality regrowth and only a small amount of
poor-quality rank grass. In addition, when the weather did turn
wet, the ability to move the cattle around the farm quickly
reduced the poaching levels significantly – where the cattle
did make a mess, recovery of the ground was surprisingly quick
after the cattle were moved”.
Live-weight Gain
The visiting cattle left in three roughly equal batches in August,
October & November. The weight gain over the whole period
being approx. 30,000 kgs or 105kg per animal. The daily
liveweight gain averaged out at 0.7kg per day.
Mike was a little disappointed with the daily liveweight gain
figures, as the target at the start of the year had been 0.9kg/
day. However, the cold spring, followed by the period of very
dry weather had potentially held the cattle back during these
periods.
Going Forward
With both Mike and the producer being happy with how things
have gone in the first year, Mike is planning a programme of
investment in water infrastructure; subdividing of larger fields
and re-seeding with high clover grazing leys to help boost
performance and save on fertiliser costs in the coming year.
Mike was a dairy farmer for
15-years before becoming a Rural
Consultant and still keeps his
hand in at farming by running a
store cattle business based around
rotational grazing.
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